French
Intent
At Wellington Primary School we believe that a foreign language is a necessary part of being a member of a multi-cultural society and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable children 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, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping children to study and work in other countries.
It is intended that when children leave Wellington Primary School, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore, other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that, in a multi-lingual society it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language.
Implementation
In line with the National Curriculum for MFL, pupils at Wellington Primary School are taught to:
- 1. listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
- 2. explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
- 3. engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
- 4. speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
- 5. develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
- 6. read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
- 7. appreciate songs, poems and rhymes in the language
- 8. broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words, including use of a French dictionary
- 9. write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
- 10. describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
- 11. understand basic grammar, including (where relevant): feminine and masculine forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.
Teachers skilfully use a variety of multi-sensory and kinaesthetic approaches to encourage pupils at Wellington to have an active engagement with French and develop their confidence at reading, writing, speaking and listening in a modern foreign language. These include games to develop vocabulary through repetition, role-plays which relate to situations the pupils might find themselves in in the future and songs/rhymes with actions to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to further vocabulary acquisition.
Each Key Stage Two class enjoys a weekly 30 minute French lesson taught by the class teacher. Each teacher follows a spiral curriculum of carefully selected units that have been adapted to suit the needs of our children. Units are progressive within themselves as subsequent lessons within a unit build on the language and knowledge taught in previous lessons. As pupils progress though the lessons in a unit they will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes. There is clear progression for the development of all areas of language education and it equips Wellington pupils with strategies for language learning that they can use as they progress into Key Stage 3 and beyond.
Long-Term Overview:
Impact
Throughout each lesson formative assessment takes place and oral feedback is given to the children to ensure that they are meeting the specific learning objective(s). Class teachers use this assessment to inform their planning and ensure all learners’ needs are being met.
Impact is measured through key questioning skills built into lessons and child-led assessment. The impact of the teaching of French is measured through images and videos of the pupils completing speaking and listening activities, discussions with children (pupil voice) and learning walks to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught and also retained by the children.