Cycle 3 of schooling ended with the first year of lower secondary school. Pupils have gradually become accustomed to a new pedagogical organisation and new teaching rhythms, and to living in a new environment which they have learned to decode and understand. 

They continue to develop skills in the different subjects. These skills, assessed regularly and at the end of the cycle, will enable them to develop personally, to continue their studies and to continue to train throughout their lives, as well as to integrate into society and to participate, as citizens, in its evolution.

The entire teaching and educational team contributes to the development of these skills. In order to highlight the main features that characterise cycle 4, we can insist on several aspects which, although already present in previous years, were not so marked and systematic.

During the three years of Cycle 4, the pupils are teenagers in full physical and psychological development. Physical and sports activities and involvement in the creation of cultural events promote the harmonious development of these young people through the pleasure of practice.
Pupils develop their skills by confronting more complex tasks where they have to think more deeply in terms of knowledge, know-how and attitudes. They are led to make choices and adopt appropriate procedures to solve a problem or carry out a project.

This is achieved through disciplinary and interdisciplinary activities. All teachers play a leading role in this training, and are responsible for its success. In order for the pupil to accept approaches in which he or she tries things out, takes the initiative, makes mistakes and tries again, it is essential to create a climate of confidence, in which questions can be asked without fear and the fear of doing things wrong disappears.

In the same perspective, pupils are encouraged to move from one language to another and then to choose the mode of language adapted to the situation, using the French language, modern languages, physical or artistic expression, scientific languages, the various means of today’s society (images, sounds, digital media, etc.). Many of the texts and documents they have to understand or produce combine different languages. Here again, interdisciplinarity fosters this flexibility and adaptability, provided that it does not lead to confusion, but rather to exchanges and confrontation of different points of view.

In a society marked by an abundance of information, pupils learn to become media and Internet users aware of their rights and duties and in control of their digital identity, to identify and critically evaluate sources of information through a deeper knowledge of a constantly evolving media and documentary universe.

They use tools that enable them to be effective in their research. A better understanding of the society in which they live also requires students to take a long-term view of history.

They are thus more confronted with the historical dimension of knowledge but also with the technological, societal and environmental challenges of today’s world. The aim is for them to understand the world around them in order to be able to act responsibly and later on a larger scale, as citizens.

Abstraction and modelling are now much more present, which does not prevent us from seeking concrete ways of achieving them. All subjects contribute to this: the aim is to train pupils who are able to go beyond the individual case, to know how to use effective modelling tools that are valid for many situations and to understand their limits.

Pupils’ creativity, which also crosses all cycles, is deployed in cycle 4 through a wide variety of media (particularly technological and digital) and devices or activities such as group work, the project approach, problem solving, the design of personal works, etc. Each pupil is encouraged to propose new ideas and to develop their own creativity.
Each student is encouraged to propose original solutions, to mobilise his or her knowledge and skills to achieve rewarding and motivating results.

Life within the school and its extension outside it is an opportunity to develop the spirit of responsibility and commitment of each individual and that of undertaking and cooperating with others.

A favourable school climate places the pupil in the best conditions to develop his or her autonomy and ability to think for him or herself. Through moral and civic education and their participation in school life, they are led to reflect in greater depth on questions for which the answers are often complex, but at the same time on the essential values on which our democratic society is based.

The high school programmes are ambitious. They consolidate the achievements of the “cycle 4”, ensure the transmission of solid subject content and contribute to the intellectual formation of pupils.

The programmes allow the construction of a common literary, historical, humanistic and scientific culture. They give pupils the keys to understanding the world in which they live: the evolution of societies, cultures, policies, the different phases of their history as well as the actions and decisions of the actors.

The curricula of scientific disciplines are based on theoretical concepts and teach the singularity of scientific reasoning. They aim to help students understand the specific nature of scientific knowledge in terms of its practices, methods and social issues.

They aim to stimulate pupils’ creativity and their ability to construct rigorous reasoning, to exercise their critical thinking, to consolidate their civic education in order to become responsible and free citizens, aware of their rights but also of their duties. The programmes encourage students to understand the conditions for their intellectual, social and political emancipation.

In modern languages, as well as consolidating their linguistic and communication skills, pupils deepen their knowledge of the geographical and cultural areas of the languages they are learning.

The teaching of economic and social sciences, which is common to all students in 2nde, and then in specialised courses, helps to consolidate the microeconomic approaches necessary to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the economy.

A new place for digital technology. “Digital Science and Technology” in Seconde (Year 11) enables students to grasp the concepts of digital science, to understand the growing importance of digital technology and the major impacts it has on human practices. The speciality course ‘Digital and Computer Science’ in Première aims to appropriate the concepts and methods that underpin computer science, in its scientific and technical dimensions.

Some courses offer new multidisciplinary approaches: common scientific teaching in 1ère (Year 12), specialised courses in ‘Humanities, literature and philosophy’, ‘History, geopolitics, political science’. They allow for cross-cutting views on major cultural issues or knowledge of the contemporary world.

The programmes give a new place to the mastery of language and the development of oral skills, particularly through the practice of argumentation. While these skills are worked on in all lessons, they take on a particular importance in the specialised lessons for students who have to prepare for the final oral test of the “baccalauréat”.

The programmes seek to establish a balance between the various learning periods: time for research, activity and manipulation; time for dialogue and exchange, verbalisation and reasoning; experimental practice and modelling activity.