French

Intent

At Scremerston First School we aim to provide all of our children in KS2 with a high-quality education in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), which develops their love of learning about other languages and cultures. Our chosen MFL taught is French. It is our intention to ensure that by the end of our children’s primary education, that all pupils will develop a genuine interest and positive curiosity about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating. Learning a second language will also offer pupils the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity, develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners, laying solid foundations for future language learning as they move onto Key Stage 3.

Implementation

Formal French lessons are introduced to children in Year 3 with 30-minute weekly lessons which continue throughout Key Stage 2. Children are taught in mixed year classes (Mixed Y3/4 and mixed Y5/6) so curriculum cycles are used to ensure both coverage and progression within these classes.  

Our French curriculum follows the Grammasuarus scheme of work but is also supplemented with additional high-quality resources to promote engagement and enjoyment such as songs, games and video clips.  

Our French curriculum aims to progressively develop pupils’ skills in foreign languages through 4 main skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Children will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around appropriate topics. In Lower Key Stage 2 the focus is the building blocks of language into more complex, fluent and authentic language as they progress through to Upper Key Stage 2.  

While formal French teaching does not start until Year 3, children in both the Early Years and Key Stage 1 are introduced to world cultures throughout the wider curriculum, for example, through the study of a specific location, participation in picture news sessions focusing on world news, cooking traditional foods from different cultures or celebrating national feast days from different countries, fostering a whole school approach and improved cultural awareness. They are also introduced to basic French words such as greetings and numbers through songs and games.

Impact

Through the high quality first teaching of French taking place we will see the impact in the following ways:

• Children will be able to communicate with each other in French.
• Children will become aware that a language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another.
• Children will develop their language through development of the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
• Children will enrich their language learning by developing an understanding of the French culture.
• Children will learn how language skills can be applied to a range of languages.
• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills

Both summative and formative assessments are used to asses the children in the four main areas of speaking, listening, reading and writing.