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:  

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