French

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

Intent

Through the exploration of French language and culture, our MFL curriculum provides children with the tools to develop their linguistic abilities as well as deepen their understanding of the world. Children will develop their skills in the four key areas of language – speaking, listening, reading and writing. They will gain a deep and broad understanding of how a language works, which will in turn prepare them for future language learning. By learning the core grammatical concepts of French, children will be equipped with the confidence and understanding to manipulate language structures. Pupils will also study French culture and compare it with their own cultural practices, gaining a new and broader perspective of the world in which they live.

Implementation

In KS2, pupils are taught by a specialist French teacher for 30 minutes each week. Class teachers are present and take an active part in the lessons in order to develop their own French language skills and understanding.

The National Curriculum provides the basis for our MFL curriculum, which is then tailored to meet the needs of our school. The specialist French teacher ensures that children build upon prior knowledge and understanding using the MFL progression document. The French teacher also uses a range of resources from the Primary Languages Network scheme of work, which complements the school progression documents, to enrich the MFL curriculum with native speaker clips, authentic literature, creative activities, songs, stories and games. This ensures that language learning has a true primary focus and is engaging for pupils.

Impact

Pupils will be able to:

Understand and respond to spoken French
Understand the patterns of sounds and language and use this to speak with increasingly correct pronunciation and intonation
Speak and converse in French with confidence and fluency relevant to the stage of learning
Write for a range of purposes, using the appropriate grammatical structures to adapt models and create original pieces
Understand a range of texts in French, using a range of strategies such as cognates and context to deduce meaning
Use a bilingual dictionary effectively to support their reading and writing

Each term, pupils complete an activity that assesses the four key areas of language learning. The French teacher uses the information from these assessments to inform the planning for the following term.

French Overview

French Progression and Assessment

Knowledge Organisers

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5