Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Son been randomised to German in Y7 despite me requesting french

57 replies

whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 18:42

As background, I am a French speaker , my gran was french and I grew up in a French speaking country. The language is important to me. I tried teaching my kids but was unsuccessful, for various reasons including DS1 ‘s resistance and various heavy family responsibilities elsewhere. DH does not speak french. Anyway , DS2 has been positive toward the language and so in advance of him staring in September I have been communicating with secondary school since March and requesting that he be assigned to French as MFL. So today they tell me he’s been assigned to German ( as was DS1). I am very disappointed .
After being upset about it, I’m trying to think of ways to ensure he gains some linguistic skills. I’m thinking of booking him on an immersive course in French next summer, while we holiday in France . I know I can speak french with him but it usually goes wrong, he reverts to English very quickly and it just feels artificial if I insist. Any ideas?

OP posts:
Original poster
whataboutbob · 21/07/2018 11:56

Thanks to everyone. Emotions were high yesterday as it was last day of primary which is a challlenge in itself and DS was stressed at the idea of choosing between German, or being in a tutor group where he knows only 1 other kid. He has said he’d rather stay in German class. I remember year 7 being tough for DS1 as he had v few people he knew in his tutor group, although admittedly his friends now are mostly not from his old primary school. I have been looking into french courses in France which could be combined with staying with relatives and have contacted a school. I also have a friend who is a French teacher and she offers 1:1 classes so I’ll be asking her for advice.
I also take the point some have made, thatDS1 should be included next this french language project if he wants.
DS2 migh end up doing better with the language this way than if I’d just let him do it at school with n o input on my part.

OP posts:
Gushpanka · 20/07/2018 23:27

Just move him next year. In Yr7 it'll be way too easy for him if he has a background in it, they'll mostly be complete beginners. Or stick with german and do french out of school until he picks for gcses.

Danniz · 20/07/2018 23:08

Languages in school are very badly taught. Hardly worth bothering with. Send him on 1 long or several short stays in France. He'll be miles ahead of the other kids.

underneaththeash · 20/07/2018 23:00

I'd swap him to another class. I've found this year DS has needed a lot of help in languages and being only able to speak French (and not Spanish) has hindered him. DS is not good at languages and his end of term grade for French was an 8 and Spanish only a 5.

He'll make new friends anyway.

LemonBreeland · 20/07/2018 21:42

Does he not get the choice to change to/or add French next year. Most secondary schools seem to do that.

I do think your anger should be directed at your dh not the school.

Walkingdeadfangirl · 20/07/2018 21:36

If you speak fluent French then the best place for him to learn French is at home. He wont become fluent in French at school doing a GCSE.

Clairetree1 · 20/07/2018 21:22

YABU tutor groups are allocated to languages, not individuals.

It is almost always the other way around, a child who has a parent speaker of a language being dissatisfied at being placed in a class learning that language. Which make sense, because if you already know some of a language, and have a parent speaker, why waste your time at school on it? Children in this situation have a genuine complaint.

Your child has been allocated to a tutorgroup learning a specific language he doesn't know, which is what he should be spending his precious education time on, not something he does know, or can easily learn at home.

So from an logistical point of view, and a personal one, the school is in the right

Original poster
whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 21:11

Thanks countess that would be worth considering.

OP posts:
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 20/07/2018 21:02

My dd is learning Italian via Skype with a language teacher/professional translator I met on here.
It works well - very easy to fit into an evening (and family life with several children and many extracurriculars can be hard to juggle) and a change of pace from school learning.
Maybe something like this might work?

Original poster
whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 20:55

Thanks to all who posted supportive and resourceful messages. For some context, 4 years ago when DS1 was going into secondary I was very heavily involved with the care of my dad who had Alzheimer’s. So I let things slide. I actually thought we’d be given a choice but they just put him in German stream. My being upset may also have something to do with the fact that most of my French speaking family are dead- mother, grandmother, grandfather, even my dad spoke it ( badly). I feel (irrationally ) that I’m betraying them by not succeeding in getting at least one of my kids to speak the language.
I realise it’s down to me to get creative and find other ways of promoting the language eg tutors, exchanges, residential courses.
By the way I’m not downgrading German as a language. It could also be an asset in some industries eg engineering. It just doesn’t have the family links for me.

OP posts:
WeeDangerousSpike · 20/07/2018 20:43

To be fair to OP, if she told them in March that she had a preference for French why would the school say in July that it's German unless they hear differently? She's already told them differently.

I get there's nothing to be done now OP but I would be annoyed too.

UghFletcher · 20/07/2018 20:40

I took German at school and in Yr 8 was also given the chance to take up French as a 2nd MFL. Is that an option at the school for your DS if he is interested in pursuing.

I never thought I'd use German and would have preferred French from the outset but now I am using it daily in my role as I've started working with our German team quite intensively so am glad I had the introduction to it at school.

AChickenCalledKorma · 20/07/2018 20:34

There are french exchange schemes which can be organised independently. I also know of at least one musical theatre residential course in France, for secondary aged students from anywhere in Europe. I'm guessing there are similar things for sports etc, depending what floats his boat.

AChickenCalledKorma · 20/07/2018 20:31

A bit harsh MissLingoss. It's not just changing french class, it's changing tutor group. And when you are going into year 7, having some familiar faces in your tutor group feels massively important, even though we all know they will probably have entirely new friends by half term.

But the obvious positive spin is that he gets to learn a new language while still being exposed to french at home. It will probably all come out in the wash and there's plenty of time for him to learn both if he has an aptitude for languages.

UnderHerEye · 20/07/2018 20:27

However you try and dress it OP the school is not at fault on this! The school will have hundreds of pupils, and the staff will be overstretched, you need more realistic expectations of the relationship between school and parents- they will not have the staff or the time to double check that one particular pupils arrangements are ok, a parent was sent an email with the relevant information and the onus is on the parent to read it and respond if needed.

The sour taste is of your own making on this.

MissLingoss · 20/07/2018 20:20

DS was in tears at the thought of choosing between french or being with friends.

I think you may need to encourage ds to develop some resilience, and be open to the idea of making new friends.

  1. He would be in French class to learn French, not to interact with his friends.
  2. There will probably be other times, as he goes through school, when he will find himself in classes without any of his friends, due to subject choices/timetable arrangements.
  3. It may well be that his primary school friendship group breaks up anyway when they reach secondary, so he should be encouraged not to depend on those friends too much.
Gobbolinothewitchscat · 20/07/2018 20:17

Cant you just teach him french at home?

museumum · 20/07/2018 20:15

I think it might introduce a very unbalanced family dynamic I’d your ds2 did French when ds1 hadn’t. Did you push it for ds1? Probably a better plan would be to put them both in a course together?

Original poster
whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 20:10

Thanks lama really supportive.

OP posts:
Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 20/07/2018 20:10

Squander his potential Hmm.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 20/07/2018 20:09

Oh give over about the subject. If your DH had opened the email he'd have seen what the school was trying to communicate to him.
It didn't have to come with glittery ticker tape rolling down the screen to grab his attention.

Original poster
whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 20:06

I’m actually quite upset about this, to reiterate I was communicating with them since March. I also discussed this at the taster day 2 weeks ago and was told they would do what they could to ensure he did french. Then this one email, not to me, with no subject. Yes DH should have read it, but if the school had been genuine in discussing this with me they should have emailed me and put in the subject.
Anyway the dye is cast. It leaves a bad taste. I’m not usually remotely pushy, I support teachers, and come down hard on my kids if they misbehave. This however has been a wake up call. DS is able in most areas and my job now is to ensure now they don’t squander his potential.

OP posts:
RavenWings · 20/07/2018 20:00

It's your husband's fault for not reading the email, it doesn't come down to the school to make him do it. You'd think that if your family were interested in education he'd have bothered his arse to open it. Whoever sent the email probably looked at the contact info for parents and chose one of you at random.

I personally think you should get Ds to do French outside of school. If it is so important you will find time to do it. If not, he would probably use what French he learns in school very little anyway.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 20/07/2018 19:59

Would you really decline to read an email from your child's school because it had no subject header?! It's squarely on your DH, not the school.

Original poster
whataboutbob · 20/07/2018 19:55

Thanks everyone. Obviously DH should have read the email, but it was sent with no subject and I wasn’t copied in despite initiating and carrying on all of the email conversations about this since March. I can’t help thinking it’s a very convenient fig leaf for them to hide behind. Obviously they’ve allocated and don’t want to mix things around. DS was in tears at the thought of choosing between french or being with friends. So we’ll just have to accept it’s German and as imchlibob says maybe there will be opportunities for french later, we’ll just have to work at it as a family. It’s taught to be very careful and procedural in communications with the school from now on.

OP posts: