Institution: Chatsmore Catholic High School
Key objectives:
There are two classes in
each of Years 10 and 11. The Year 11 students were pilot groups,
whose GCSE results were published in August 2008. All groups are of
mixed ability, with target grades ranging from A* to E. Prior to
starting the Applied French course, some of the higher ability
candidates had already achieved C or D grade GCSE French in Year 9
when completing a fast-track course. For these candidates, it is
hoped that the Applied GCSE will allow them to improve their
attainment grades within a work-related context, giving increased
job prospects.
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Associated video clips
Complaint in a hotel
In this clip the
student is taking part in a spoken interaction where he is
complaining about facilities in the hotel during his stay on
business. The teacher designed this task following a module of
work on hotels (doc, 72KB) based on Unit 2 of the coursebook,
Contexte, and the student had three days in which to
prepare for the assessment. During the assessment he is only
allowed access to the task and no other resources. The task
must not be annotated in any way.
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A visit to a music festival
In this clip the student is giving a presentation about a visit to
a music festival. The content of this presentation must be
different from any written coursework which has been submitted. The
student has the opportunity to prepare the presentation and during
the assessment is allowed access to a sheet of paper containing no
more than 30 words. This may also contain visual prompts. The
questions and answers are devised by the teacher on the day of the
assessment and must not be prepared in advance, although the
candidate is wise to consider possible lines of questioning.
View video »
The interview
In these clips, Claire Vallom, an AST at the school, who teaches
the GCSE in Applied French, explains more about the course.
How do the students find the Applied GCSE
course?
Hear how the students respond to the more vocational content
of the course.
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What are the differences between this course and the
conventional GCSE?
Hear how the different skills are weighted in the course.
View video »
Hear how the students become independent learners
with the course.
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Listen to Claire explaining what resources this
school uses to support independent learning in listening and
reading.
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Hear about the online testing of listening and
reading skills, how this works in practice and how the students
respond to this.
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Listen to Claire talking about the types of exercises
in the listening and reading online tests and the advantage of
being able to listen as many times as necessary.
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How do you use ICT in this
course?
Hear how this course is timetabled, partly in an ICT room.
View video »
How do you prepare students for the speaking
interactions?
Hear how students prepare for the speaking interactions, and what
they are allowed in the assessment.
View video »
What type of students follow the Applied GCSE course
at Chatsmore?
Hear Claire explaining why this course works with a class, which
contains students within a wide ability range, from A* to
E.
View video »
The interviews: In these clips, Julian Morgan, a
senior teacher at the school, explains how the Languages Department
makes use of ICT.
How are Sam Learning and Studywiz
used in languages?
Hear Julian explain how staff in languages use the Internet and a
VLE at Chatsmore.
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Explain more about how Sam Learning and Studywiz
work.
Listen as Julian explains how parents, students and staff can be
kept informed of progress by using these tools.
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The interview with students on the
Applied GCSE course
Hear two students on the Applied French course describing what they
have had to do throughout the course and what the benefits have
been. The students also explain how they prepare effectively for
the speaking assessments and how they use visual material to help
them to learn their work.
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