Private schools/ what do dcs do?

[morethanpotatoprints]

Just wondered what children at independant schools learned and if it was the same for all.
Parents, do you know what you are paying for? I ask as many parents complain they have no idea what dcs do all day.

I also can't see how 30 mins a week be it at a prep or primary is anything more than window dressing to make parents feel that Henry is learning an MFL. My DS has 4 -5 lessons a week for the whole 6 years of his prep with specialist French teachers some native speakers. Also doing lots of things dictation comprehension etc etc mind you I was still disappointed with how little he knew on leaving. Preps following the CE curriculum IME are not placing enough emphasis on conversation. The CE exam format is almost indentical to GCSE and a friend told me the oral can be learnt by rote and practiced in advance because the children have been tthe topics being covered have been given in advance. be practised for

I also can't see how 30 mins a week be it at a prep or primary is anything more than window dressing to make parents feel that Henry is learning an MFL. My DS has 4 -5 lessons a week for the whole 6 years of his prep with specialist French teachers some native speakers. Also doing lots of things dictation comprehension etc etc mind you I was still disappointed with how little he knew on leaving. Preps following the CE curriculum IME are not placing enough emphasis on conversation. The CE exam format is almost indentical to GCSE and a friend told me the oral can be learnt by rote and practiced in advance because the children have been told in advance what topics are going to be covered. All seems a bit silly to me and not like that when I was at school.

I think GCSE is a bit of a farce (unless it's changed in the last 4 years since ds did it). He could draw hieroglyphics to remind him of the words to take into the oral. He very much enjoyed drawing the mnemonic symbols and took hours over it.

Quite honestly, I don't know how a child can learn a foreign language without learning vocabulary lists. It seemed, at ds' state grammar that he was expected to learn by osmosis (or maybe self-motivation? ).

Because we learnt endless vocabulary lists and verb conjugations, I am able to recall quite a lot of the French I learnt for O Level (although that was very much lacking in conversation, especially in a class of silly giggly self-conscious adolescent girls!)

flexi couldn't agree more my DS didn't sit CE he sat the schools own exam to pass he had to learn 100 verbs the past perfect present imperfect future and future perfect it was an absolute bloody slog and boring as hell but worth it now but I don't think teachers in either sectors have the time or motivation to go over grammar to that extent. His prep seemed to labouring under the impression that a 12 year old would sit down and learn them with no input from anyone else. I think not. He also learnt countless pages of Latin vocabulary for the exam.

Flexi, one of my DSs goes to a private bilingual school. The first three years are majority French, and 50% French after that and it follows the French national curriculum. DS entered the school with no French, and is now speaking it in complete sentences. They are also kept up to speed with the National Curriculum here - enough so that transfer into the competitive private London systems not unusual.

That's interesting. So their early years are taught in the second language, giving them a working knowledge of everyday use and vocab, then, after 3 years, they teach using the mother tongue and the second language.
What a brilliant idea! Is that in France?

Isn't that exactly what they did in Wales when they were trying to revive the use of Welsh?

Flexi - it is here in London. There are about 5 schools like this, all hugely oversubscribed, and a number of new schools like this planned.

Does anyone think that if you are lucky enough to learn an MFL properly from an early age then other language will come easier in the future?

Momin private or free school?
I guess you have to make a commitment to the additional language you're going to teach. That must be a difficult decision.

It is a private school.

I wouldnt call it loss of connection.In my experience since DS started in a prep school in Y5, he has been doing fundamentally more hours and subjects . You cannot be involved in all of them , but : he gets most prep done at school and some at home. He has his prep books with him , I can see the marks and comments for the previous homework at any time. All the school trips are announced in advance, there is an up-to date info and calendar available on school website as well as a lot of useful info for each subject. I always know about school trips, concerts etc months in advance.
I still do forget things and dates - even managed to send him to school once on a day off but thats is my own doing

It sounds like the homework is rigorously marked! How do the teachers know that it is all the child's work? Do you have to sign an agreement beforehand?

I guess they just have to trust them. Its not like they get whipped if they havent done it.