Baccalauréat is a new web resource with some excellent interactive exercises for AS and A2 French. German and Spanish versions are promised in the near future. At an annual subscription of £195, it is a little more expensive than some of the cheerful KS3/4 websites so beloved of MFL teachers, but it is extremely professionally done, and pupils can use the material outside the classroom to help with the independent learning that is so vital in raising standards between GCSE and A Level. There is a slight note of caution: broadband is a requirement in order to access the video excerpts at home.
What first struck me about Baccalauréat was the love and attention to detail that have been lavished on the product. Resources are grouped into four sections: Vidéos; Infographies; Lectures; and Interactifs. All the resources are, in fact, interactive and organised very helpfully according to A Level topic areas to assist teachers in their planning. Practising teachers have clearly been consulted in the development of Baccalauréat as the video passages are a suitable length (not too long) and difficulty, and are accompanied by accessible interactive exercises. The Infographies are based on graphs and diagrams such as are found regularly in textbooks but which you don’t ever really know how to exploit! Baccalauréat, however, typically offers multiple choice comprehension exercises so that pupils can gain experience of this sort of text. The Lectures tab contains traditional reading passages in pdf format with ready made comprehension questions to go over in class, whereas the Interactifs section invites readers to click on various parts of pictures and maps to discover interesting cultural information. In many respects, this is the most attractive part, and I have found that my pupils have appreciated the opportunity to follow their independent interests, having been grabbed by the professionalism of the presentation.
Baccalauréat is without doubt the best Sixth Form ICT resource I have yet come across and worth every penny in my book. I rather regret only having come across it late in the school year – the new Lower Sixth will have to be exposed to it from day one!