French
French
Intent:
At Folkestone Primary, the principal aim of our French curriculum is to foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world, leading them to value the importance of learning about other cultures and their languages. We endeavour to broaden pupils’ horizons and build their cultural capital through using the study of the French language as an opening to learning about aspects of French culture. Through the study of the French language, we seek to inspire pupils with the range of opportunities that learning languages presents in the world of work.
Implementation:
Our French curriculum is based on the Language Angels online scheme.
Pupils progress through Early Language Teaching Units in lower Key Stage 2 to Intermediate Language Teaching Units in upper Key Stage 2.
The ‘three pillars of language learning’ (phonics, grammar and vocabulary) are built into our lessons and units and we develop the learning and use of these core linguistic pillars across the three different teaching types.
‘Non-negotiable’ core vocabulary (eg. numbers, days of the week) is revisited multiple times in many of the units.
All lessons are organised and laid out in a clear series of learning steps. The lesson starts with recall activities to assess and embed previous knowledge.
Each unit consists of interactive teaching presentations and interactive games, both of which focus on spoken French, as well as paper-based pupil activities to develop reading, understanding and writing French.
Through these units, pupils develop the knowledge and skills to listen to, understand and respond to spoken French; and speak French with increasing confidence, fluency, spontaneity and accuracy of pronunciation and intonation.
They are also taught to read and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing in French; and write phrases from memory and adapt these to create new sentences.
French lessons provide an excellent opportunity to study language structures, morphology and etymology, drawing comparisons with the English language. This enriches pupils' understanding of both languages.
Impact:
Children can recognise how each topic links and use prior knowledge to extend sentences in spoken and written language. They are able to pick out patterns within French words and compare with that of their native language, whilst recognising the importance of the role of speaking, listening, reading and writing within languages. Teachers are able to assess pupils’ understanding through written tasks, reading tasks, as well as through games and songs. The skills and knowledge gained will enable pupils to access the Key Stage 3 French curriculum.