Modern Foreign Languages
Intent
French
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” – Flora Lewis
'A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.’ – The National Curriculum
At the Priory we embrace and are keen to learn more about the different languages that our pupils speak and the cultural experiences they have encountered. Through cultural events, learning opportunities and listening to pupils and parents, we celebrate opportunities to learn more about all our pupil’s cultures. We introduce the French language to pupils in the Early Years and our pupils begin French lessons in Year Two.
We use the Twinkl Planit French scheme which follows the National Curriculum, providing a clear progression of skills and a varied curriculum. Through our French curriculum we provide an opportunity for all children to learn a language and to be able to communicate in this language. We want to develop our children’s understanding of the world around them and broaden their experiences. During French lessons and experiences, we seek to develop our children’s curiosity, empathy, open mindedness, critical thinking and to provide a foundation for future language learning at secondary school level. We wish to inspire our pupils through our learning experiences, enabling them to understand the purpose of language and develop an understanding of social and cultural experiences.
How French is delivered at The Priory
Early Years and Year 1
Children are exposed to French language through learning simple greetings. We listen to French songs and learn about how we would travel to get to France.
Year 2 and Lower Key stage 2 –
Our formal French lessons begin and there is a focus on developing language skills and verbal communication and developing children’s cultural understanding of differences between England and France. Children become confident greeting their classmates in French and following simple instructions. They can write phrases and simple sentences depending on their abilities. Children learn to count in French. They will become aware of masculine and feminine words, accents, punctuation, and word order in a simple sentence. Children will be able to able to identify where France is on a map, and which continent it is in.
Upper Key stage 2
Children have gained confidence in communicating in French and have developed their sentence structure and understanding of grammar. They will be able to follow more detailed instructions in French. Children can speak in more complex sentences when communicating during lessons. They have developed their writing skills, so they are able to write in full and more detailed sentences. Children are able to write sentences from memory; use correct word order in sentences; usually make correct agreements for feminine and plural words; conjugate regular ‘er’ verbs, avoir and etre. They will deepen their understanding of French culture and develop their awareness of where else French is spoken throughout the world.
Year 5 students engaged in building sentences about time in a French lesson.
