Intent
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” (Frank Smith). Our French North Star is for children to develop a love of languages through our teaching. We want them to learn about cultures other than their own so that they develop their understanding of the world they are growing up in. We want to teach our children the skills to interact with French speakers and to develop their conversational skills so that they are able to do so confidently and with ease. Specifically, we want children to be able to communicate for practical means and make substantial progress in both spoken and written French. We want to give our children access to a variety of authentic language sources to give them the best opportunities to broaden their vocabulary and develop their pronunciation and intonation.
Implementation
At Ashfield, French is taught in a timetabled weekly session and lessons are planned with a clear progression across each year group. As we do not have any French specialist teachers at Ashfield, we use a scheme of work (Language Angels) to teach French. Using Language Angels ensures teaching of the key skills and knowledge, and confirms full coverage of the National Curriculum.
Our French curriculum covers the four aspects of language learning (reading, writing, speaking and listening). It has been carefully planned to ensure that children have sound knowledge of topic – related vocabulary, grammar and immersion in French culture and traditions. Language learning is connected to cultural ways and traditions. For this reason, cultural learning plays an essential role in French lessons in every year group at Ashfield.
Each year group will complete units of work with opportunities for cultural and traditional immersion through classroom learning and/or enrichment activities each year. A complete immersion involves correct pronunciation, therefore there is also a phonics element embedded in the learning for each year group. Every year group will be allocated a set of phonic sounds (related to the vocabulary) to learn and build upon.
As a junior school we take into account that this is the first experience of MFL learning for our pupils. Bearing this in mind, although we use Language Angels, we have adapted the curriculum to meet the needs of our children, and adapted the sequence of learning to incorporate recaps and revisits of some units (to strengthen children’s uptake of knowledge and skills, thus boosting their confidence).
Children in Year 3 will begin the year by introduction to France (location, food and traditions) and Francophone countries, as their main cultural learning. This has been selected as it links with our Geography topic, in which children learn about France. Learning to pronounce the names of cities in France will give children a positive and authentic perspective to their learning. Children will also learn salutations and how to introduce themselves, their family and numbers.
There is a clear progression of learning in each year group. In our approach, our children will be able to learn about different topics in French and then have the opportunity to consolidate and build on this learning in another year group . For example, in Year 3, children will learn about ice cream and fruit and then build on this in either Year 4 or Year 5. By having these pathways and links to previous learning, it will make it easier for children to remember what they have learnt before in French lessons and extend their knowledge with new learning. The links and overlapping of the French units can be seen much more clearly in the French curriculum overview.
In Year 4 children will have a range of units of work. One of their units will focus on traditional foods and cafes in France. The children will enjoy an afternoon where they will serve some French foods (our French café!) to their parents and will use the learned vocabulary. Having a French cultural event will give children the opportunity to learn more about French culture and life whilst learning the language.
Learning in Year 5 further builds on vocabulary and grammatical structures and provides opportunities for children to write well-built sentences with scaffolding through numerous resources as appropriate. Topics include musical instruments names and the phrase I can to build sentences about instruments they can play. This will be enriched by learning about authentic French music from the different regions of France. Children will also be exposed to Le poisson d’Avril (cultural learning) and have an opportunity to play this game. This will link in with PSHE learning about understanding the joke and learning when to stop it. Year 5 children will learn more about the family and be able to talk in grammatically well-structured sentences about extended family members and their homes (chez- moi). There will be some focussed learning linked to this with the irregular verb avoir and a brief introduction to classroom instructions and objects (where sentences can be built using their knowledge of avoir).
After the exposure in Year 5 to classroom objects, children will be able to link and build on their knowledge in Year 6 and complete units of work on ‘Ma Famille’, ‘Chez-moi’ and presenting themselves in French. This will give children the opportunity to draw on their knowledge learnt throughout KS2 to present themselves in French. Also in Year 6, children will enrich themselves further in French culture by learning about the Lemon Festival in France and other cultural events like Bastille Day. To prepare our pupils for secondary school, in the summer term, we have a unit of work that will expose children to some German and Spanish taster workshops.
Our French lessons will include:
- A progression of French knowledge
- A clear sequence of learning for each unit
- Specific topic – related vocabulary for units of work and year group
- Exposure to various cultural aspects
- Develop French vocabulary and grammatical structures
- Provide opportunities to reflect and build on prior learning
- Challenged to think about similarities and differences and the importance of acceptance of others
- Make links with other subjects in the curriculum
- Adaptive teaching and High Quality Teaching strategies
- Differentiated activities or support (e.g., word maps, enlarged maps, iPad and technology etc) for children with SEND
Impact
- Children will explain the value of learning another language
- Children can discuss the key vocabulary taught
- Children will show an appreciation of French culture and identify similarities and differences with the British culture
- Children showing confidence and willing to participate in French lessons
- Children recalling key vocabulary and speaking with increasing confidence
- Children reading simple words and phrases in French
- Children writing simple sentences and phrases in French
Our children will be successful and engaged in lessons because:
- Teachers use assessment for learning in lessons and ‘Language Angels’ to enhance learning
- Teachers build on a progression of skills and knowledge from the previous year
- Teachers make links and connections with prior learning in French and in other curriculum subjects
- Teachers scaffold activities, model key vocabulary in French
- Teachers organise activities with our linked French schools throughout the year which enable children to read and/or write in French for a purpose and learn more about French culture