Son been randomised to German in Y7 despite me requesting french

[whataboutbob]

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?

Sorry, once they were old enough to reply to his French in English, DH just kept automatically switching, so the bilingual thing didn't work. Especially as he was not the stay at home parent.

If the head of year is really helpful, maybe ask for copies of any tests as well, so DS can sit them at home, and practice (to see the kinds of questions they ask). ie effectively run him on a duel track for a year, with the aim of possibly joining the French stream next year. Otherwise you might need to find a helpful Mum from the French stream (or tell your DS to make friends with someone in the French stream as soon as he can!)

GCSE is easy and not very useful. Learning towards French TEFL type exams would be more worthwhile. With a bit of effort at home and a couple of stays in France your son would be above GCSE level within a year. You don't need to be French to teach him.

user1499173618

Schools are unbelievably stupid not to pay attention to pupils’ MFL preferences.

Except that this school are taking his preferences in to account. but you would know that if you read the updates and weren't so desperate to throw shade at the school.

We have done this at home and through exchanges, with 2 foreign languages.

Having a Year 10 student doing French GCSE, I can't say we have found it easy (he is not a natural linguist, nor French speaker, despite his first words being French).
Whether it is useful I can't say, but you need to have pretty dedicated DC for them to be willing to do something outside the school curriculum. And especially once they hit the teenage years, and don't want your help as much as they might previously. And the new GCSEs are pretty rough. DS is struggling to keep up his other interests while they are going on.
For somebody whose cultural heritage lies in French (as OP's does), it makes sense to be trying to use what is available in the school system to allow her DC to access that cultural heritage, and then supplement, rather than trying to do it all on her own. Obviously if we were talking about Thai, say, there would be no choice in the English system, but when French is offered in the school that OP's DS attends, it seems to me that it would be best to be in that system.

On the other hand, the transition to High School is not easy, and I can understand OP and her DS's concern about being placed in a tutor group where he knows no one (tutor groups are actually not much of a panacea, but DS won't know that until he arrives and there is the summer to think about). That is what the school has done, set up a conflict between DS's cultural heritage and his current peer group, however you want to cut it, so I think OP is not being unreasonable to be upset. And it doesn't bode well for DS's relationship with the school. I agree that given the conflict, it is better he takes German, because if he ends up hating it, and finding his tutor group unhelpful, the resentment will be to the school and positivity towards French, while if he ends up having a difficult transition in a tutor group where he knows nobody, he will end up hating the French. But the school has already created somebody who dislikes the way it operates, before he has even got there. Teenagers act out, and the school has just given him a justification before he starts. Not good IMHO.

Bimkom I thank you for your very considered and comprehensive post.
You understand the feeling that a language is slipping out of a family tree, and sorry if that sounds melodramatic.
In starting secondary school, I have to put his well being first and so won’t insist he’s removed from his tutor group, he’s indicated he wants to stay there . There are various things which can be done over the next few years to expose him to French though, as some PPs have outlined. Than you for suggesting he could switch over eventually, that is worth bearing in mind. My plan is to see how he settles in to secondary generally. He was very able in primary but I’m not taking it for granted that he’s going to sail through year7. If it looks like he can manage some extra studying, I have a French friend who gives 1:1 lessons and maybe then he can take the end of year 7 test.
Frangdoodle thanks for recommmending the exchanges and home stays. Definitely something to consider.