Depending on which year ds starts high school he will have to study German OR French with no choice

[cupcakes]

I don't seem to be able to expalain this very well in the title.
The high school teaches French and German alternately. One year learns German and the following year's intake learn French - for their entire school careers.
So there is no choice at all. The year in which ds is due to start the language will be German. I want him to learn French but apparently that will never made available to him as an option.
This is extreme forward planning as he is only in year 2 but it has irked me. He curently goes to a french club after school which he enjoys and when he goes up to the juniors he will be learning french there too but as soon as he gets to high school it will be abandoned - purely because of the year in which he starts.
I hope they change this policy before then.

Has anyone had any experience with this?

Well, you have time to lobby and get all the other parents to lobby! Write concerned letters.
It does seem a bit of a mad policy.

I've already phoned my friend and she is equally .

Do we write to the local education authority or the governors?

Tbh I think all secondaries (around here at least) don't give enough priority to foreign languages - I think the one dd will go to offers and French and German but they can't keep both on for GCSEs - which seems unfair if a child wanted to specialise in languages, eg.

The reason imay be that it is difficult to recruit modern languages teachers. I would suspect that now modern languages are not compulsory to 16 that this has had some effect on the numbers of modern language teachers that schools feel they need to employ. However, my DS at a state 11-16 comprehensive has had compulsory French and German lessons (French y7-9, German y8-9) and has had the option to do French, German or Spanish GCSE - so it can be managed by some schools!
You will get used to teacher shortages when your DS gets to secondary school - Maths and Science are also problem areas (and recruitment in general in areas where housing is expensive).

I'm a modern languages teacher, and the number of schools able to offer 2 languages is in sharp decline due to the lack of teachers of mfl, and also due to their becoming a minority subject.

The school where I work only offers French - and it's compulsory for all up to year 9 - and optional for higher years.

DS has had Spanish at his primary since Reception...I'm really pleased about it, and would hope he can continue in 2ndry. But probably not, by the sounds of it.

I don't think it's common to give a choice is it?

Our school divides each year into 2 halves - left and right sides. So 5 classes in each Yr group on left side, 5 classes on right. This is largely for timetabling purposes.

Left side studies French, right side German. In Yr9 they each start the other language for 7 months, so that those with an aptitude for languages can choose to do a second language for GCSE. But each child HAS to do the language they started with in Yr 7.

The other 2 secondary schools in our town have similar systems, differing in some ways but the common theme is that everyone is allocated a language in Yr 7, and can possibly pick up a second later on in school.

To be honest, if someone really has a flair for languages, it's easy to pick up another later on. I knew many people at university who did 2 languages, with one being a language they had previously studied, the second ab initio.

Not having a choice in Yr7 seems reasonable to me, but the lack of a possible second language later on would concern me.

DD1's secondary (state Grammar) has compulsory French from Y7, and a choice of Spanish, Italian or German from Y8. The school ds will prob be going to (bog-standard Catholic boys comp) has compulsory French and Latin from Y7 for all but the bottom sets who have classical studies instead. They can then choose to do German as well from Y9.

I think what cupcakes prospective school offers is pretty crap, actually. I would be majorly p'd off in that position.

Where I work has a similar system to portonovo - our school is 'split in half' - half do French, half do German - no choice.

DD is at a private school where they learn French from ?YR. Quite early on anyway.

When they go to the senior school (same school, same campus) they do Spanish instead. The senior school has been established longer and the Spanish always been taught from Y7 so it's not as if the primary school didn't know!

DD2's school does French in yr7 and then Spanish or German from yr8.

Up to now you had no choice but we (yr7) have had a letter saying they can't make any promises but we can now state a preference. Phew!!

So cupcakes it may not be set in stone.

I'm afraid I've seen even worse, cupcakes. I've read an OFSTED report for a secondary school which taught French or German depending on which sort of language teacher it managed to recruit. OFSTED commented that being forced to change language the year before GCSE was affecting the results - hardly surprisingly.

Blu - don't worry, that school has since been Sellafielded. And School D offers a choice of French or Spanish (and if you're good at languages you can do both, but possibly not starting in Year 7).

Cupcakes, I agree it's a mad policy - good luck in lobbying to get it changed. I presume you couldn't just find a different secondary school - that might possibly be easier.

I've heard today that he can still choose French as an option for his GCSE's when in Y10 but I don't know how well they expect him to do compared to other years who have had the extra 3 years teaching.

I took German from first year seniors as it was then known, picked up Latin the following year and French in the fourth year.

Took all three for O level in the fifth year, and got German - A, French -A, Latin - B.

Why are you so against his learning German? Or so keen on his learning French?

It's standard here except half the Yr8s start French, the other half German (no element of choice - assigned according to Form group). Then at Yr 10 they can opt to do both if they want for GCSE - but I can't quite believe that half of each year isn't at a massive disadvantage with one of the languages. The school seems to think it works well.

At our school they do either French or German from yr7 for three years.

Afaik no-one is offered a choice, but I expect if someone expressed an opinion they would probably be accommodated.

Last year for the first time they did Foundation level GCSE (max grade C) or Entry Level certificate at the end of yr9 and got good results, and this policy is being continued. We have got excellent MFL teachers.

Unfortunately our options system - specialist technology college - is heavily biased towards practical and technology subjects; and against humanities/languages, so very few opt for MFL. (c.5-10% only for the past few years).

God that sucks cupcakes
At Ds's school they have to do french and in yr 8 choose either German or Spanish, also choice of chinese after school if they want.

SueW - I've realised that I do seem quite anti-the German language thing. It's nothing to do with German, just an assumption that he would have the opportunity to learn French and now I feel that I've been denied that.
He has been taking after school french lessons (run by a private company at his school) for a year which he enjoys AND is good at.
We are more likely to go on holiday in France than Germany as I was born there and have links with certain regions (including family).
And he will be studying French whilst at Junior School.

I suppose one option is to pay for private lessons but (not withstanding the unwanted cost!) feel that he'll probably have enough of a workload without something which isn't on his curriculum added to it.

Then perhaps it is better for him to learn German because he already has grounding in French and will get more reinforcement of that language at home? In the same way I liked it that DD's school was so sporty because we're not until I realised that all the school does is reinforce the sporting ability of those who have a natural bent towards team sports and those like DD who do 2 hours of dancing, 1.5h judo and horse riding each week are labelled 'non sporty'

I don't know, I'm just, erm, thinking aloud really and perhaps have just contradicted myself?

lol

He won't get much French from me! - I struggled to get C at GCSE. Everyone thinks I can speak excellent French but am pants.

can he join the higher year in their french class? Seems a silly policy with no thought for the needs of individual kids.

That's frustrating when you've been giving him an early start in French!

tell me about it...

Cupcakes, our system has some similarities to yours, despite the differences I posted about earlier!

Everyone has to do the language they started with in Yr 7, but can choose to do a second language for GCSE - at the point they have only done about 6 months of the second language vs 3 years for the first.

This is exactly what my daughter is doing - she has done French for nearly 3 years and has chosen to do German, which she did between Sept last year and Easter this year, so just over 6 months.

Her language teachers fully expect her to do just as well at German GCSE as at French, despite the disparity. Those who take up the second language will have one after-school lesson a week from this Sept, to enable them to 'catch up'. However they also benefit from exceptionally small classes, because not so many take up the second language.

In addition, the second language is only done by those who are fairly high achievers, hardworking and able in the first foreign language - the school would not allow others to do this option, and to be honest I can't see anyone without a flair for languages doing so anyway. In the past, those who have done 2 languages do just as well, if not better, at the second as they do in the first, and many have gone on to do both languages at A level.

I have no qualms about this at all, I think once you have a strong grounding in one language it really does become easier to pick up another. I found this myself, I had a year and a half less German than French up to O level and A level, and still always did better at German, and liked it more, right through to degree level.

So don't despair yet!