ASEICA places Anglophone teachers in the international section at Cesar College in Roquefort les Pins, at College Eganaude in Biot, College Niki de St Phalle in Valbonne and the College International of Valbonne.
Students accepted into international classes are either already bilingual or have passed an entry test which assessed their capacity to learn a foreign language. Whatever the college, when they arrive in the section in 6ème, they are placed in groups according to level, receiving between six and eight hours of English language and literature instruction per week, supplemented by two hours focusing on the humanities. By the time they complete their four years in the international college classes, and whatever their level of English at the outset, they will be fully equipped to move on to the challenges of the OIB at the CIV.
Our teachers value a learning style that emphasises and encourages a personal response. This complements Education Nationale’s approach and helps students develop both rigorous and independent thinking, ensuring they benefit from a rich cultural mix.
(A small number of places are sometimes available at some colleges for English speaking children who have just arrived in France and who need extra teaching in French.)
At the end of 3ème, the fourth year of collège, pupils sit the Brevet, the first state exam. This exam marks the passage from collège to lycée and includes papers in French, Mathematics, Modern Languages, History & Geography.
In the "Brevet International", two special papers replace the modern language and history & geography papers of the standard brevet exam—
- Language and literature - covering reading, comprehension, linguistic and grammatical exercises and essay writing.
- History and geography - which includes questions in both English and French and covers European history from 1919 to 1990 as well as the geography of the main economic powers.
Teaching of the humanities program is split between ASEICA teachers and Éducation Nationale colleagues, two hours teaching per week being given in English, with a further two hours in French. Students therefore benefit continuously from a dual perspective and learn first hand to appreciate the richness of cultural diversity.
The curriculum aims to engage, inspire and encourage students at all times. It particularly encourages student interaction, debate and discussion, aiming to enhance and stimulate interest, knowledge and understanding of the present and the past. Work done in class is further supplemented by the Model United Nations (MUN) sessions which are offered to all college students as an extra-curricular activity.
We seek through our lessons to provide an understanding of both the separate and interconnected natures of the disciplines of History and Geography. We also address the French notion of civic education and promote universal values such as democracy, tolerance, open-mindedness, justice and freedom for all.
Key objectives of the curriculum are to develop the ability of the historian and geographer to—
- Understand and confidently use the key concepts of both disciplines.
- Extract, classify and interpret information from a variety of sources.
- Assess the value and limitations of available evidence.
- Identify the major themes of the distant and recent past which help explain the present.
- Write and speak fluently.
- Use relevant and precise information to develop cogent, critical and coherent written and oral argument.
The humanities department has every lesson available on power point. There are carefully prepared materials as well as a variety of basic textbooks to complement our digital bank.
The college English program prepares pupils for lycée where they will continue their studies in the International section working towards the OIB.
Students join the Anglophone section with widely differing levels of English. Over the four years in college, ASEICA teachers and their colleagues from Éducation Nationale work closely together to ensure that their pupils’ linguistic and literary skills are developed effectively.
The main aims of the language program are to develop:
Interactive communication skills; namely listening, reading, speaking and writing.
Academic language and the skills needed to manipulate and interpret language in all discourse and genre.
Through the course pupils will acquire adequate vocabulary, produce coherent text (written and oral) and detect and present convincing arguments.
The literature course aims to develop critical ability as well as awareness of self and others together with knowledge of both English speaking and other cultures.
During the four years pupils will—
- Use text as an example and inspiration for creative work
- Familiarize themselves with literary genres
- Analyse literary works – themes, plot, characterization
- Identify structure and style
- Make an independent personal response to the literature studied
In choosing works to study we refer both to national programs (such as the A level syllabus) as well as the International Baccalaureate curriculum. All genres and time periods are reflected, and works of high literary quality are chosen. The texts studied will of course increase in complexity each year, and, as of 5eme, each group level studies one play by William Shakespeare.
In addition to studying literature, our 6eme, 5eme and 4eme students benefit from classroom Theatre sessions with a qualified Theatre teacher or a professional actor. The focus is mainly on oral expression and confidence building. The Theatre teacher will often explore a theme or characterisation from a play, novel or poem which the students are studying as part of the curriculum with their English teacher.