Port Regis - 3 to 13 � Boys and Girls � Boarding and Day

Port Regis
Motcombe Park,
Shaftesbury, Dorset
SP7 9QA. United Kingdom.
Registered No: 440436
Charity No: 306218

Tel: (+44) 01747 857800
Fax: (+44) 01747 857810
Email: office@portregis.com

The Curriculum

We hope that this page will provide the information that you are looking for. It is arranged under the following headings:

Languages in the timetable
Which pupils study Spanish instead of French
Principal coursebooks used and programme of study
Private lessons in Italian, Mandarin, Japanese and German

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Head of Department.

Languages in the timetable

Languages are taught throughout the prep school with the following allocation:

F form - 1 x 30 minute lessons
E form - 2 x 30 minute lessons
D form - 4 x 30 minute lessons
C form - 5/6 x 30 minute lessons
B form - 5/6 x 30 minute lessons
A form - 5/6 x 30 minute lessons

All pupils learn French until the D form, and the majority continue until Common Entrance or Scholarship in the A form. However, some pupils may learn Spanish instead of French from C Form onwards.

Which pupils study French instead of Spanish in the C form?

We feel that Spanish, in its early stages of learning, can be more accessible than French to less able linguists. We also want to give pupils for whom it may be beneficial a chance to start afresh in a new language in the C form.

We therefore have one beginners' Spanish set in the C form. These pupils learn Spanish instead of French as their only modern foreign language. They may, depending on their aptitude, still be offered the chance to study Latin in years 7 and 8 (in addition to their Spanish).

The Spanish set in the C form comprises principally two categories of pupil:

Those pupils who have been studying French in the D forms (and possibly the E and F forms) but who have found it very difficult; and
Those pupils who are new to Port Regis in the C form, and who have no prior knowledge of French.

In selecting pupils for the Spanish set, we take account of the probable destination school for each pupil. In order to make informed decisions on the attitudes of senior schools towards pupils taking Spanish instead of French at CE, we have communicated with all relevant senior schools.

Principal coursebooks used and programme of study

French: The programmes of study for each of the year groups are written so as to enable the use of a coursebook (or part thereof) as the principal resource. A new French coursebook called "Voyage" (published by Nelson Thornes) was introduced into the Port Regis schemes of work in September 2002, and "Voyage" is now the main coursebook from the E to the B forms.

The A form use "Equipe 4", published by OUP. This the final book in an excellent series, and it covers the Common Entrance material comprehensively.

Spanish: As from Autumn 2007 we use the Listos series published by Heinemann. The C and B forms begin with Listos 1; the A form uses Listos 2 (Verde). The teaching staff have an array of other materials and resources with which to supplement this excellent course.

The following table sets out the basis upon which the Programmes of Study are written:

	F Form French
Autumn	"La Jolie Ronde" Book 3 Greetings; numbers up to 29; saying your name, age and where you live; asking and saying what things are; gender of nouns with indefinite articles; big and small; where is? and here is; the days of the week.
Lent	“La Jolie Ronde” Book 3, Units 4 and 5 Numbers up to 49; consolidation of definite and indefinite articles; the weather; days of the week; some animal vocabulary; the French alphabet and a little French geography.
Summer	“La Jolie Ronde” Book 3, Units 6, 7 and 8 Numbers up to 69; colours; some animals; my face; the possessive form; simple sentence construction; gender of nouns with definite and indefinite articles and introduction of adjectives; more French geography.
	E Form French
Autumn	“Voyage” Book 1, chapter 1 and the start of chapter 2 Vocabulary and topics include; your name and where you live; things you use in class; classroom instructions; months and numbers up to 31; birthdays; alphabet; days of the week; school subjects. Grammar includes; using habiter and s’appeler with singular subject pronouns; definite and indefinite articles; gender and number of nouns; possessive use of de; using avoir in the singular present tense.
Lent	“Voyage” Book 1, remainder of chapter 2 and some of chapter 3 Vocabulary and topics include; life and work at school; time, dates, numbers and prices; telling the time on the hour (only 1 to 12 - not the 24 hour clock). Grammar includes; avoir (1st person and 2nd person singular); regular -er verbs in the infinitive and in all of the singular forms; use of the definite article after aimer, adorer, détester, préférer; negatives (ne………..pas).
Summer	“Voyage” Book 1, remainder of chapter 3 Vocabulary and topics include; personal description; family, friends and pets; numbers. Grammar includes; agreement of adjectives; possessive adjectives (1st and 2nd person singular and plural); avoir and être in the singular.
	D Form French
Autumn	“Voyage” book 1, chapter 4 and the start of chapter 5 Vocabulary and topics include; talking and writing about yourself, other family members and pets; your home. Grammar includes; agreement and position of adjectives; possessive adjectives; revision of –er verbs with singular subject pronouns; avoir and être with singular subject pronouns; il y a; the subject pronoun on.
Lent	“Voyage” Book 1, remainder of chapter 5 and chapter 6 Vocabulary and topics include; describing one's home and room; describing places in town and transport; time (quarters and half past). Grammar includes; consolidation of the singular forms of the present tense of regular -er verbs; the singular forms of the present tense of faire; the singular and plural forms of the present tense of aller; the use of certain prepositions.
Summer	“Voyage” Book 1, chapter 7 Vocabulary and topics include; places in town, asking and giving directions. Grammar includes; ordinals; using tu and vous; imperatives; consolidation of adjectives and adjectival agreements.
	C Form French
Autumn	“Voyage” Book 1, chapters 7 and 8 Vocabulary and topics include; spare-time activities; talking about plans for the future. Grammar includes; ordinals, using tu and vous, imperatives, adverbs of time, using -er verbs with all subject pronouns, aimer + infinitive; the simple future; imperatives (tu and vous); some common reflexive verbs (present tense).
Lent	"Voyage” Book 1, chapter 9 and “Voyage” Book 2, chapter 2 and the start of chapter 3 Vocabulary and topics include; going on a school trip; countries, nationalities and languages; the weather and the seasons; Grammar includes; some common reflexive verbs (present tense); partir and prendre (present tense); quantifiers; possessive adjectives (plural); prepositions used with countries; present tense of –re and –ir verbs; perfect tense of aller and naître (sets 1,2 and 3 only); faire + weather expressions.
Summer	“Voyage” Book 2, chapters 1, 3 and 4 Vocabulary and topics include; weather and appropriate activities; personal description; travel; numbers bigger than 100; places in town. Grammar includes; weather idioms; plus de and moins de, vouloir + infinitive; use of mais, quand, si; perfect tense of faire (sets 1,2 and 3 only).
	C Form Spanish
Autumn	Listos 1 Vocabulary and topics include; greetings and how to introduce yourself; how to ask how someone is and replying; asking where someone is from and replying; understanding classroom instructions; classroom objects; numbers 1-10; the alphabet; Spanish speaking countries and Spanish towns and cities.
Lent	Vocabulary and topics include; asking for information in the tourist office; culture and history of Malaga; telling the time; opening and closing times of shops and places of interest to visit; numbers 50-100; Spanish alphabet. Grammar includes; regular -er, -ar and -ir verbs in the present tense.
Summer	Vocabulary and topics include; asking for things at the newsagent; letter writing techniques; describing where you live ( nationality); talking about your family and pets. Grammar includes; regular -er, -ar and -ir verbs in the present tense.
	B Form French
Autumn	“Voyage” Book 2, units 1,5 and 6 Vocabulary and topics include; personal description; life and work at school; free-time and holiday activities; talking about the past (sets 1 and 2 only); dates; talking about the future; time (in minutes). Grammar includes; asking questions; the perfect tense –er verbs using avoir (sets 1 and 2 only); introduction to the imperfect tense (sets 1 and 2 only); consolidation and development of knowledge of the present tense (particularly modals); the immediate future tense. This term's exam, as well as assessing the pupils' understanding of the work completed this term, tests their progress in developing some of the wider language skills required for the Common Entrance examination.
Lent	"Voyage” Book 2, units 7, 8 and the start of 9 Vocabulary and topics include; food, drink and meals; clothes; shopping; parties. Grammar includes; consolidation and development of knowledge of the present, immediate future, perfect (sets 1 and 2 only) and imperfect (sets 1 and 2 only) tenses; partitive articles; expressions of quantity; demonstrative adjectives; comparison of adjectives; Direct object pronouns (sets 1 and 2 only).
Summer	“Voyage” Book 2, units 9, 10 plus an extra topic of school Vocabulary and topics include; life and work at school; daily routine; shopping; parties; personal description; describing family, friends and pets. Grammar includes; consolidation and development of knowledge of the present, immediate future, perfect (sets 1 and 2 only) and imperfect (sets 1 and 2 only) tenses; use of il faut + infinitive. This term's exam, as well as assessing the pupils' understanding of the work completed this term, tests their progress in developing some of the wider language skills required for the Common Entrance examination.
	Beta French
Autumn	“Voyage” Book 2, units 1,5 and 6 plus miscellaneous extension resources Vocabulary and topics include; personal description; life and work at school; free-time and holiday activities; talking about the past; dates; talking about the future; time (in minutes). Grammar includes; asking questions; the perfect tense –er verbs using avoir; introduction to the imperfect tense; consolidation and development of knowledge of the present tense (particularly modals); the immediate future tense. This term's exam, as well as assessing the pupils' understanding of the work completed this term, tests their progress in developing some of the wider language skills required for a Common Entrance or Scholarship examination.
Lent	“Voyage” Book 2, units 7, 8 and the start of 9 plus miscellaneous extension resources Vocabulary and topics include; food, drink and meals; clothes; shopping; parties. Grammar includes; consolidation and development of knowledge of the present, immediate future, perfect and imperfect tenses; partitive articles; expressions of quantity; demonstrative adjectives; comparison of adjectives; direct object pronouns.
Summer	“Voyage” Book 2, units 9, 10 plus an extra topic of school plus miscellaneous extension resources Vocabulary and topics include; life and work at school; daily routine; shopping; parties; personal description; describing family, friends and pets. Grammar includes; consolidation and development of knowledge of the present, immediate future, perfect and imperfect tenses; use of il faut + infinitive. This term's exam, as well as assessing the pupils' understanding of the work completed this term, tests their progress in developing some of the wider language skills required for a Common Entrance or Scholarship examination.
	B Form Spanish
Autumn	Listos 1 and 2 Vocabulary and topics include; describing family and pets; physical description including size, hair style and colour and eye colour; describing personality and character; jobs. Grammar includes; the verbs “Tener”, and “Ser” in the present tense.
Lent	Vocabulary and topics include; talking about sports, hobbies and freetime activities; talking about likes, dislikes and preferences in relation to free time activities; describing holiday plans, weather and transport. Grammar includes; irregular verbs “Ir”, “Hacer”, “Jugar” and “Preferir”; simple future tense with “IR" + A + INFINITIVE.
Summer	Vocabulary and topics include; shopping for food and clothes, quantities, colours and shopping preferences, shops, describing frequency, location and types of shopping experience. Grammar includes; revision of present and simple future tenses and irregular verbs covered in B form Lent term.
	A Form French
Autumn	Development of the knowledge and skills required for the speaking, the listening comprehension, the reading comprehension and the writing components of the Common Entrance papers; related work from the course book Equipe 4, past CE papers and other miscellaneous resources; consolidation of fundamental grammar with particular emphasis on the construction and use of verbs.
Lent	Development of the knowledge and skills required for the speaking, the listening comprehension, the reading comprehension and the writing components of Common Entrance Papers; Consolidation and extension of linguistic knowledge and skills within selected topics of the CE syllabus; related work from the course book Voyage (book 3), past CE papers and other miscellaneous resources.
Summer	Consolidation and extension of linguistic knowledge and skills within selected topics of the Common Entrance syllabus; Revision and practice of all of the elements of the CE exam, including the speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension and writing papers; related work from the course book Voyage (book 3), past CE papers and other miscellaneous resources.
	Alpha French
Autumn	"Equipe Dynamique" and miscellaneous books and resources used Consolidation of grammar and vocabulary covered in previous years, with particular focus on using verbs in the present, perfect and imperfect tenses; Introduction of new grammar required for scholarship exams, including the future tense, relative pronouns and present participles; Development of writing skills and the completion of several essays; Development of the listening, speaking and reading skills required to answer scholarship style questions.
Lent	Consolidation of knowledge covered previously, with particular focus on using verbs in the present, perfect, imperfect and future tenses; Introduction of new grammar required for scholarship exams, including the use of the conditional tense, direct object pronouns, clauses using si and the superlative form of adjectives. Development of writing skills and the completion of exam style essays; Development of the listening, speaking and reading skills required to answer scholarship style questions.
Summer	Revision and consolidation of linguistic knowledge and skills required for scholarship exams to Bryanston, Eton, Sherborne, Malborough and other relevant senior schools; work on the video series called “Extra” and other DVDs; work using ICT programme "GCSE French".
	A Form Spanish
Autumn	Listos 2 Vocabulary and topics include; house, home and daily routine. Grammar includes; reflexive verbs “ Lavarse”, “Levantarse” and other verbs to describe daily routine; revision of present and simple future tenses.
Lent	Vocabulary and topics include; school. Grammar includes; revision of irregular verbs in the present tense and simple future tense.
Summer	Vocabulary and topics include; revision of all 4 CE oral topics covered in B and A forms. Grammar includes; general revision of all grammar covered in C. B and A forms in preparation for CE exam.

Private lessons in Italian, Mandarin, Japanese and German

All pupils in the school have the opportunity for private tuition with a visiting peripatetic teacher in one or more of the above languages. In addition, our French and Spanish peripatetic teachers are, of course, available to give private tuition to pupils wishing lessons in those languages.