French Language Assistant in Cambridge

The Perse School wishes to appoint an enthusiastic, well-organised and engaging French speaker to assist with inspiring pupils to develop their French language skills. The successful candidate will work to develop students’ spoken French skills and appreciation of Francophone cultures, as well as playing a key role in the preparation for GCSE, A Level and DELF speaking exams. We are looking for a native speaker or a graduate in French with near-native language skills.

The Perse Modern Foreign Languages department comprises a wonderful team of teachers across four main curriculum languages (French, Spanish, German, Mandarin), and two extracurricular languages (Italian and Japanese). Our team strives to ensure students reach their potential and develop the skills and cultural understanding needed to excel nationally or internationally in their chosen field as considerate, outward-looking young people. Being part of the MFL team is to be part of a wider vision to develop an intrinsic interest in language and culture, allowing a focus on the real purpose, benefit and enjoyment of language learning. All members of the MFL team have opportunities to collaborate and share good practice between languages, all the while contributing to the well-respected MFL profile within the school.

The Perse School Cambridge is one of the country’s leading independent co-educational day schools for children aged 3-18. Our aim is to be a leading employer of choice. This means we strive to be a school where staff say they are proud and excited to work, and feel valued, respected and motivated. We are committed to providing a very competitive salary and benefits scheme at the same time as offering a wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development. We want our staff to feel engaged and purposeful so that they, in turn, help pupils to be happy and successful.

Key Responsibilities

• Preparing and delivering activities to small groups of Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 pupils to help get them ready for the role play, photo card and conversation sections of the AQA GCSE speaking exam;
• Preparing resources for and teaching speaking lessons to Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth pupils to get them ready for the card section of the AQA A Level speaking exam;
• Assisting Upper Sixth pupils with selecting, researching and preparing appropriate topics for their Independent Research projects;
• Working with pairs or small groups of DELF A2, B1 and B2 pupils to prepare them for their speaking exams;
• Conducting DELF speaking exams, having trained to be an examiner;
• Providing conversation practice with lower school students in small groups, where timetabling permits;
• Co-teaching and, on occasion, leading lessons across the age range;
• Helping all pupils to develop their speaking skills to ensure impressive levels of vocabulary, accurate grammar and correct pronunciation, leading to high levels of fluency, spontaneity and confidence.

Qualifications

• Degree level (or equivalent) education;
• Native or near-native French speaker (C1 level minimum);
• High level of written and spoken English;

The School actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. Safer Recruitment: The Perse School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including references from previous employers, a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the enhanced level, as well as eligibility to work in the UK (in compliance with UK immigration regulations). This role is also exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.