While cycle 3 is about consolidating what has been learned, cycle 4 is the cycle of deepening: across the 5e, 4e and 3e years, students are asked to choose a second modern language and start identifying their preferences for certain subjects, with future orientation in mind. This cycle ends with the “brevet” exam and the choice of the student’s path going forward…

What are the different subjects studied?

Cycle 4 lessons are built around 13 subjects, each with specific, clearly identified skills to develop:

  • French: understanding and expressing oneself orally, reading, writing, understanding how the language works, acquiring artistic and literary culture, and enriching personal expression;
  • Modern languages: listening and understanding, speaking at length, writing, reacting and holding a conversation, discovering the cultural aspects of modern languages;
  • Visual arts: experimenting, producing, creating, carrying out a project, expressing oneself, analysing one’s own practice and that of others, relating to the work of artists, finding one’s bearings in fields linked to art and being receptive to its questions, opening up to otherness;
  • Music education: carrying out creative or performance music projects, listening, comparing and building shared musical culture, exploring, imagining, creating and producing, exchanging, sharing, arguing and debating;
  • History of art: describing a work of art using suitable vocabulary, linking a work to an era and civilisation, proposing a critical analysis based on observation, building a presentation around works of art, reporting on a visit to a cultural site;
  • Physical education and sport: developing physical skills and learning to express oneself through the body, mastering methods and tools, sharing rules, taking on roles and responsibilities, learning to look after one’s health and adopting a sporting culture;
  • Moral and civic education: taking on the values of the Republic and democracy (dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, secularism, respect…)
  • History and geography: finding one’s bearings in time and space, reasoning, justifying an approach or choices, gathering information in the digital world, analysing and understanding a document, using different forms of expression, cooperating and pooling resources;
  • Mathematics: exploring, modelling, representing, reasoning, calculating, communicating;
  • Media and information education: using media and information independently, using information thoughtfully, using media responsibly, producing, communicating and sharing information.

For the subjects “Physics-chemistry“, “Life and earth sciences” and “Technology“, the skills developed are the same but specific to each field: using scientific approaches and forms of expression, designing, creating, carrying out projects, using digital tools, adopting ethical and responsible behaviour, finding one’s bearings in space and time.

What are the specific features of the cycle 4 curriculum?

Now used to the new structure of collège, cycle 4 students continue to build skills across the different subjects. But what makes these years distinctive comes through more strongly in these areas:

  • Student choice: in the midst of physical and psychological change, they are led to reflect more, as they face increasingly complex tasks. They adopt suitable approaches to solve a problem or carry a project through;
  • Different forms of expression: whether in 5e, 4e or 3e, they move between the mode of expression suited to the situation, modern languages, physical or artistic expression, scientific language…;
  • The abundance of information: as users of media and the internet, cycle 4 students are made aware of their rights and responsibilities, and of managing their digital identity…
  • Abstraction and modelling: whatever the subject, the goal is to move beyond the individual case…

More broadly, throughout this cycle, students must balance respect for the norms of shared culture with building their own personal thinking, drawing on their own talents and aspirations. All while developing a sense of responsibility and personal commitment, as well as the spirit of initiative and cooperation with others…