At St Mary's, French is the only MFL studied and this specific focus enables pupils to make good progress in one language and lays the foundation for future language learning as they move up to middle school.

Intent

The intent of our French curriculum is to ensure that all pupils understand and respond to high quality spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources. Our programme of study aims to enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language confidently and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.

Our high quality language curriculum fosters children’s curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world, whilst also equipping them with the skills and confidence to interact within it, certainly within French speaking countries.

We are committed to ensuring that we are developing a competence in another language for the children in Year 3 and 4, enabling children to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures. It also helps children develop skills that will open further opportunities later in life. 

Implementation

Each class, in KS2,  has a timetabled French lesson of 40 minutes per week which uses a range of resources, from Language Angels, built into a tailored programme of study, to develop the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing within the subject such that:

  • Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, as well as developing these skills.
  • Links are established within the Uttoxeter Pyramid of schools, celebrating with a Language Festival each year.
  • Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in French that are delivered throughout the curriculum.

Observations of French lessons take place to ensure the high quality of teaching of French.  Staff are offered opportunities for CPD to increase their confidence when delivering a language and to help improve their pronunciation. A planned annual refresher staff meeting within KS2 supports the recap of the French curriculum, using teaching strategies and CPD available.

Impact

Because learning is a change to long-term memory, it isn't always easy to see impact in the short term. However, we look at the practices taking place to determine whether they are appropriate, related to our goals and likely to produce results in the long run.
We use lesson observations to see if the pedagogical style matches our depth expectations and children's attainment and progress in French is measured against the objectives set in the National Curriculum and recorded by teachers to inform parents and future teaching and learning activities.  The impact of our teaching and learning in French prepares our children for the next steps of their languages journey, to give them a firm basis on which to progress at middle school.