MFL- French
Rationale - Languages in the Primary Curriculum
The learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for the pupils. As set out in the Curriculum a high-quality language education should encourage children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes and learn new ways of thinking. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
Curriculum Aims
Intent
In teaching French 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. Through our scheme of work, 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.
- To foster enjoyment and enrich the children’s experience.
- To develop the children’s language learning skills and foster a positive attitude to language learning.
- To enable pupils to understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of sources.
- To enable pupils to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
- To support pupils in beginning to write at varying lengths, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
- To help pupils discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
- To increase the children’s cultural awareness.
- To lay the foundations for further study in KS3 and beyond.
- To satisfy local and government requirements and follow the National Curriculum.
In endorsing the school’s Creative Curriculum principles, we specifically aim to:
- Provide a rich and varied input of the language, so that children hear and interact with the sounds and patterns of the new language (ICT, native speakers)
- Use active learning to engage and motivate.
- Use games, stories, poems and songs to maximise enjoyment.
- Embed languages in class routines and school life.
- Integrate language learning across the curriculum.
Teaching and Learning Overview
Implementation
French will be taught in a whole-class setting, by the class teacher or PPA cover teacher. All year groups are taught lessons applicable to their age/ability, following the government’s statutory requirements.
We base our teaching on a the Kapow scheme of work with single age group plans.
The Kapow French scheme of work is designed with six strands that run throughout.
These are:
- Speaking and pronunciation
- Listening
- Reading and writing
- Grammar
- Intercultural understanding
- Language detective skills
Teaching is in line with the recommendations of the National Curriculum. It takes full account of the different experiences, strengths and interests of the children whilst also complying with the requirements and guidance on inclusion.
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources.
- Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Lessons provide a model for the language, use games and songs to maximise enjoyment and make as many connections to real life situations as possible. Lessons focus on speaking and listening and are often multi-sensory and kinaesthetic in approach. They have clear, achievable objectives and incorporate different learning styles. All children have access to the curriculum through variation of task, grouping or support from an adult. Children’s confidence will be built through praise for any contribution they make, however tentative.
Whole class teaching is used, although pupils also work individually, pairs or in groups (to cater for different learning styles). Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are shared with the children. Lessons may include games, songs, oral work, role-play and active participation as well as listening and talking. Reading and written tasks are included with increasing frequency as the children advance through the key stage.
Each class has a timetabled lesson of 45 minutes per week with a unit normally lasting 5 lessons in each half term although this can be blocked into theme days where part or the whole unit can be taught in a day. Wherever possible, sessions of 5-10 minutes throughout the week, where the children may answer the register in French, sing a song, listen to a French story or revisit vocabulary and phrases that have been taught in the lesson in order to consolidate knowledge and ensure new language is retained. The school has additional French resources such as flashcards; dictionaries; games and story books. These can be used as support for the Kapow scheme which provides resources for all lessons.
Impact
The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be monitored continuously through both formative and summative assessment. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. An assessment spreadsheet is also available to record children’s progress in each lesson to enable you to build a picture of their learning through each unit. Skills progression sheets are provided for teachers to assess the progress of children through units of work with assessment criteria for end of year summative judgements to enable staff to record pupils working towards, at, or beyond the expected standard relevant to their age.
After the implementation of Kapow Primary French, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of language-learning skills to enable them to study French, or any other language, with confidence at Key Stage 3. The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary French scheme of work is that children will:
- Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g., ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.
- Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases, and short texts.
- Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
- Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.
- Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
- Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.
- Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French, English, and other languages.
- Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.
- Meet the end of Key Stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for Languages.
Role of the Subject Leader
The role of the Subject Leader is in line with other subject leader roles as outlined in job descriptions. The subject leader will:
- Oversee the development of French in the school
- Provide guidance to colleagues where necessary
- Keep up to date with local and national developments in French and pass on relevant information to colleagues
- Be responsible for the organisation of and maintenance of resources