Institut Notre-Dame

ASB Classes and Groups Explained 

The Anglophone Section at IND encompasses our ‘Passport to Bilingual’ (formerly known as ‘Passport to English’) and ‘Anglophone’ (formerly known as ‘Bilingual’) classes in Primary, as well as our ‘Bilingual’ (formerly known as LM2) and ‘Anglophone’ (formerly known as LM1) classes in Secondary.

Our ‘Passport to Bilingual’ classes are designed to allow advanced English language learners to continue to develop their written and oral skills, whilst immersed in a linguistically and culturally Anglophone environment. Students build their literature, grammar and vocabulary skills simultaneously, exploring a variety of traditions from Anglophone cultures taught by native English-speaking teachers. Students who successfully complete their studies in ‘Passport to Bilingual’ are on track to join the ‘Bilingual’ group in 6ème.

The ‘Anglophone’ classes in Primary are designed for bilingual students who either speak English at home or who have lived and studied in an English-speaking country for a significant period of time. Their understanding of English is intuitive, and instruction in our ‘Anglophone’ classes is provided at a native English-language level, with learning objectives comparable to those expected of their peers in the United Kingdom, the United States, or in other English-speaking countries.

In order for our Primary students to pass from our ASB Primary groups to one of our ASB Secondary groups, students must be able to successfully follow instruction and work at the Secondary ‘Bilingual’ or ‘Anglophone’ level, as ‘Passport to Bilingual’ is not an option in Secondary. (Advanced English language learners who do not meet the requirements for the ‘Bilingual’ or ‘Anglophone’ classes in 6ème may be referred to the ‘Cambridge’ class, which does not pertain to the Anglophone Section.)

In Secondary, ASB students are placed in one of two tracks from 6ème through 2nde, at the end of which all ASB students will sit a Cambridge IGCSE English Language exam. Students in the ‘Bilingual’ classes are fluent in English, but French tends to be their mother tongue, often influencing their approach to grammar and writing. (These students sit the Cambridge IGCSE English as a Second Language exam at the end of 2nde.) Students in the ‘Anglophone’ classes, whilst also bilingual in nature, tend to be native English speakers who have an intuitive understanding of English grammar. (These students sit the Cambridge IGCSE English First Language exam at the end of 2nde.)

It is important to note that our ‘Bilingual’ and ‘Anglophone’ classes from 6ème through 4ème share common learning objectives, with ‘Bilingual’ students benefiting from a reinforced approach to English grammar and a greater focus on vocabulary building.

In 3ème and 2nde, ‘Bilingual’ and ‘Anglophone’ students continue to share common Literature and History objectives, but the Language curriculum is tailored to focus on the specifications of the particular IGCSE Language exam each group is preparing to take.

ASB students are no longer tracked in 1ère and Terminale. Regardless of whether they were previously in the ‘Bilingual’ or the ‘Anglophone’ track, all ASB 1ère students sit the Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English and History exams. It is also worth noting that, regardless of the track they were previously in, all students graduating from the Anglophone Section receive the special recognition of ‘mention bilingue’ on their Parcoursup dossier.