Description

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This course will demonstrate how to guide your high-performing students from success at GCSE to achieving Grades A/A* in the AQA A-Level French examinations. The course will discuss teaching and learning ideas for both language and literature options to stretch and challenge able students and to develop their higher-level skills. Using feedback from examinations, the course will examine what is expected of high ability students and explore ways to build teaching and learning to meet these challenges.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• Focused on identifying the demands of Grades A & A* and providing materials to help teachers prepare students effectively
• Recommendations for moving students on from being GCSE-describers to A-level-analysers
• Increased awareness of what we should aim for with our top students.
• Mark schemes and Examiners’ Reports will be analysed to identify and clarify the requirements of the highest levels
• Sample answers at Grades A & A* will be examined
• Materials will be provided that will allow teachers to cover the content effectively in innovative and student-friendly way that push the highest ability students

What does an A* candidate look like? How to achieve this.

10.00 – 11.00am

• Examine the assessment demands of all components for A/A* students
• Consider the most effective models for delivery of the course to ensure effective assessment practice across two years
• Review of the characteristics of A/A* level students
• Feedback of the most recent exams: what examiners look for at the top grades
• How to support students to move from B to A/A*

Morning Break

11.00 – 11.20am

Achieving A and A* in Listening, Reading and Translation – Paper 1

11.20 – 12.20pm

• Building vocabulary skills – exploring a range of methods to enhance students’ A/A* vocabulary
• Increasing confidence in listening – low stakes listening as a precursor to assessment
• Advice for answering the reading and listening questions – spotting and dealing with distractors and misconceptions
• Stretching A/A* students with a range of unseen and authentic texts
• Exploring the most effective resources and ideas for helping students revise for the listening and reading
• Training students to self-monitor – routines and ideas for creating personal checklists to use in exam conditions
• Tackling the toughest sentences: developing the skills needed to unpick difficult French sentence structure and grammar to achieve A/A*

Lunch

12.20 – 1.20pm

Paper 2: How to guide your students to the highest grades.

1.20 – 2.15pm

• Literature and film – how to guide your students to A/A* grades
• Moving from description to critical analysis in writing, securing A/A*
• The five-pronged approach to literary texts and films
• Translation into French – accuracy of language – what is ‘in tolerance’?
• Translation into French – appropriate paraphrase

Afternoon Break

2.15 – 2.30pm

The Speaking Exam

2.30 – 3.15pm

• Teaching the skills to enable the best possible independent research
• Working backwards from the mark scheme
• Building in practice and assessing progress
• Developing A/A* analytical response skills in students
• The importance of quality of language in achieving A/A*

Review and Depart

3.15 – 3.30pm