Author: Lorna Henderson, Craigroyston High School
Craigroyston Community High in Edinburgh was incredibly proud that four girls from our Higher French class won first place in the senior phase (S4/S6) section of the ‘Concours de la francophonie 2020’, run by l’Institut français d'Ecosse.
As Curriculum Leader, Lorna Henderson is always looking for opportunities to open up language learning beyond the curriculum in creative ways, and the competition was part of her departmental strategy to raise uptake in languages. Irina Gancheva, class teacher, says: “We thought that this would be an excellent opportunity to boost learners’ self-confidence as well as further their communication skills in French. The girls all have a genuine interest in French language and culture and decided themselves on the topic and how to present their ideas. They are a small class of pupils whom I have taught since S1, and I have witnessed their progress with pride and joy.”
The pupils interviewed each other before filming in order to gather ideas and information that they could use. The result is a fantastic video of the pupils talking fluently in French, and at length, about how and when they started to learn French. They discuss their own learning experience, the languages they talk at home and how these helped them to learn another language, and the importance of language learning. They also share their motivation to be successful language learners and how they hope to use French in their future professional lives.
They titled the film, ‘Our language journey and future aspirations’. The video will be used in the future to inspire younger learners.
The girls were overjoyed with their success and it gave them a huge boost towards the end of their Higher studies. They are undaunted by the winners’ workshop being postponed, and those that can are now continuing with their studies at Advanced Higher.
