Dedication to work is the fountain of learning  

 French

MODERN LANGUAGES AT ST JAMES' SCHOOL
WHEN TO LEARN A LANGUAGE?
At St James', we believe that children benefit from learning a foreign language from as early an age as possible. In the primary department Year 3 and 4 pupils have one lesson of French per week and Year 5 have two lessons every week. Pupils in Year 6 have two lessons of French and one lesson of German each week, During the lessons, pupils are introduced to the different languages and also leam about the culture and customs in France and Germany. There is a large emphasis on speaking activities which enables pupils to develop their communications skills.
When our pupils have reached the age of Year 7, they are well accustomed to these languages and their acquired confidence enables them to quickly further their progress overall. 
 
SIZE OF CLASSES
One other strong asset at St .lames' is indeed the size of our classes. It is a well known fact that speaking a foreign language is one definite way of improving one's skills. In every lesson, all the pupils are given ample opportunities to express themselves orally, either with their teacher and the class, or with another pupil through role-plays thoroughly supervised. Because such exercise is done on a very regular practice and within friendly surroundings, the children soon overcome any fears they may have had. In Year 11, each pupil receives extra tuition on a one to one basis. During this time, they learrn how to tackle the different phases of their speaking examination (which represents 25% of their overail result) and how to cope best with every aspect of this examination.
Students of AS and A Level are constantly exposed to the foreign language they have chosen to study. As well as speaking the language on an almost regular basis, they benefit from the full attention of their teacher who is able to see to everyone's needs. 
 
COURSES OFFERED and EXAMINATION BOARDS
Primary Department:
A range of worksheets drawn from different materials, mostly designed by the teachers in order to suit the needs of each class. Since not many textbooks are available for this age range, we prefer to create our own material rather than introducing a book which pupils may come across when they move to Year 7.
Year 7 to Year 9 (Key Stage 3): 
Avantage, Encore Tricolore
Year 10 and 11 (Key Stage 4): 
Metro Rouge. 
Examination Board: AQA-NEAB
Year 12 and 13 (AS and A Level): 
Au Point Nouvelle Edition 
Examination Board: AQA-AEB
 
For each year, teachers also regularly produce their own worksheets to support or extend the matenal offered in textbooks.
 
ASSESSMENT POLICY
Pupils are regularly assessed to check their progress. In December and in March every year, pupils up to Year 10 will sit an informal examination to determine further their current level (work is always marked according to National Curriculum Levels and assesses the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing).
In June, a week of examination is set aside, which assesses the pupils' progress through the full academic year and also helps them to learn about examination procedures and techniques.
Pupils of Year 11 as well as students of AS and A Level sit their mock examinations at the beginning: of December and their work will be marked according to the respective Examination Boards grades.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
As  you can see in the photographs, every two years, pupils are offered the opportunity to take part in a tnp to France. The event usually includes a visit to Pans to see the many sights and time for shopping to enable pupils to experience real life situations as well as a visit to EuroDisney.
When this trip is not running, a skiing trip to a French resort is available, which mixes sporting activities with the opportunities of spending a full week exposed to the language as well as getting to know a new area of France.
Students of AS and A Level are offered the possibility to study a region of France as part of their syllabus. A visit to the region studied is included in this study. In the past, we have chosen Normandy which includes a mixture of touristic and industrial businesses and is very rich in history. During their last visit, our students were able to visit a dairy farm which is patronised by Delia Smith, a cider factory, a bakery where they made their own bread, the famous Tapestry of Bayeux, a 360° museum related to the Second World War as well as other sights. They also spent one day at the beautiful Abbaye of Mont Saint Michel.