Modern Foreign Languages
Intent
At Gorseland, we aim to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in French for practical purposes, using both written and spoken French.
We aim to give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning further languages, developing a strong understanding of the English language, facilitating future study and opening opportunities to study and work in other countries in the future.
Implementation
Our French curriculum ensures full National Curriculum coverage of the following strands of language learning:
Our French curriculum has been designed as a spiral curriculum, which is cyclical, in that pupils revisit key vocabulary and grammar concepts again and again. There is increasing depth within the curriculum, whereby each time vocabulary or grammar learning is revisited, it is covered with greater complexity. The curriculum is also designed so that upon returning to each key area, prior knowledge is utilised so pupils can build on previous foundations, rather than starting again.
Through our French curriculum, pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. The curriculum provides balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written French, although in Year 3 the focus is on developing oral skills, before incorporating written French in Year 4 and beyond.
Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including role-play, language games and language detective work. The curriculum focuses on developing what are termed ‘language detective skills’ and developing an understanding of French grammar, rather than on committing to memory vast amounts of French vocabulary.
Impact
The expected impact of our French curriculum is that children will:
Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g., ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.
Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases, and short texts. Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately. Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt. Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French, English, and other languages.
Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.
Meet the end of Key Stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for Languages.
Teachers make a judgement on the extent to which children have displayed competent language skills and met the intended learning outcome each lesson and record this on assessment grids for each module. Verbal feedback is also given throughout French lessons to guide children on improving their language skills.
Subject leaders monitor teaching and learning in their subject through observing teaching and learning in lessons, analysing the work produced by children, talking to samples of children in different year groups about what they know and remember from their learning and termly data analysis to track the progress of learning in their subject across the school.
Long Term Plan
Reception
Not taught in EYFS
Year 1
Not taught in Key Stage 1
Year 2
Not taught in Key Stage 1
Year 3
Autumn
French Greetings with Puppets
French adjectives of colour, size and shape
Spring
French playground games - numbers and age
In a French classroom
Summer
French transport
A circle of life in French
Year 4
Autumn
Portraits - describing in French
Clothes - getting dressed in France
Spring
French numbers, calendars and birthdays
French weather and the water cycle
Summer
French food - Miam, miam!
French and the Eurovision song contest
Year 5
Autumn
French monster pets
Space exploration in french
Spring
Shopping in France
French speaking world
Summer
Verbs in a French
Met my French Family
Year 6
Autumn
French sport and the Olympics
French football champions
Spring
In my french house
Planning a French holiday
Summer
Visiting a town in France