bandeau des SIS Sèvres

Anglophone, littérature

Programme de la 3ème SIS en littérature

By Paddy Salmon

Dear Pupils of Troisième (and Parents),

This is just a brief letter to welcome you back and to inform you how your work for the year has been organised. There are three elements to your work this year : the Brevet, the First Certificate and IGCSE.

The Brevet

You will be prepared for the LV1 test of the International Brevet which is taken in the summer. Everybody is expected to get it and it looks impressive on a c.v. The exam is prepared by international teachers and involves an essay, a reading comprehension and some language exercises. It tests language rather than literature, though the comprehension is supposed to be literary. There is a Brevet Blanc (a mock exam) in the second term in all the examinable subjects.

The Cambridge First Certificate

This is the first major exam of the Cambridge range of English Language exams for foreign students and is recognised with respect in most French post-Bac colleges and even Grandes Ecoles. It should be taken by those students for whom English is not their mother tongue (ie the common language used at home with both parents). The exam is taken in the summer and involves a whole day of testing plus an oral on another day.

The cost is about 80€ and is well worth it. Besides, nearly everybody gets it each year. It is excellent practice for the Cambridge Proficiency Exam, the top of the range, which is taken in Terminale and recognised as an exam of excellence throughout the world.

IGCSEs (International General Certificate of Secondary Education)

These are British exams taken at the age of 15 (2nde) by all British students. We take just two exams, the IGCSE Language and the IGCSE Literature exam. These are prepared over two years with a final exam in the summer of 2nde. We start working for them in 3e by concentrating on the course work element (travail continu) which the pupils amass over the two years and which counts towards their final mark.

This year we shall be studying “Much Ado About Nothing” by Shakespeare, “The Catcher in the Rye” by JB Salinger and a selection of poetry and short stories for the literature coursework.

There are three reasons for doing IGCSEs :

  • It ensures that our standards are assessed as comparable to work done in Britain ;
  • It also prepares students well for the literary work of the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat, which is what we aim for in Première and Terminale ;
  • It adds important international diplomas to pupils’ c.vs. In 3e, therefore, work in Language classes (letters, essays, speeches, etc.) and in Literature classes (essays, presentations, analyses) will be redrafted and collected in folders for possible submission in 2nde.

Although sitting (and paying for) these exams is optional, the work for them is obligatory and forms our programme in English, so it is fairly pointless not to sit the exams in the end. I will be writing to you in 2nde about the cost of the IGCSEs

I hope this is clear and gives you a picture of the broad outline of our work in 3e. Much of the work overlaps, but what is clear is that the programme is serious and counts for the future.

It is also of a high level and will ensure that when our pupils finally set about choosing universities, they can all envisage an anglophone college or university, having completed studies that ensure compatibility.

A final word about the groups : there is an A group and two B groups, each of which contains a mixture of previous B1 and B2 group students.

The programme for each group is the same but there is a greater emphasis on language skills in the two B groups (which are entirely equal in composition). In Chaville the group is mixed ability. Please note that there are no groups according to level once pupils reach the lycée.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Dernière modification le 23-06-07 par