French

Modern Foreign Languages at Water Leys - French

Intent – What we are trying to achieve?

• At Water Leys, we would like our children to be enthusiastic learners of French.

• Children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in French, which will be taught by knowledgeable staff who use a commercial scheme of learning to support their subject knowledge will support children to develop the mastery of concepts and inspire enthusiasm and interest in the subject.

• Opportunities will exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, creative workshop days at our feeder high school or visitors to school who may read stories in the language or share their experiences of living in France.

• In French, children will develop the skills to appropriately understand, speak, read, write and transcribe phrases, as well as use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures.

Scheme of Learning

Our Scheme of Learning ‘Salut’ follows the National Curriculum. It allows for appropriate sequencing and aims to secure knowledge in the long-term memory whilst developing their enjoyment of learning a MFL. The key areas of speaking and listening, reading and writing, and grammar are developed throughout KS2 in order to prepare children for secondary education.

Implementation – How do we translate our vision into practice?

• All Key Stage Two children will study French for 30-45 minutes per week during five out of the six halfterms.

• Carefully designed schemes of learning in French ensure consistency and progress of all learners.

• Success criteria in every French lesson are set in order to guide children to achieve their potential. This ensures work is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum. AN assessment grid is used to formally record an overview of progress of each child.

• As well as learning the French language, pupils will also learn about French culture, and key figures from French history.

Impact – What is the impact of our curriculum on the students?

• Cultural capital opportunities are enriching the lives of the children and they are beginning to able to discuss how the experience impacts their knowledge and understanding.

• Children of all abilities and backgrounds achieve well in French. Children talk enthusiastically about their learning in French and are eager to further their learning in the next stages of their education.

• There is evidence of good outcomes as shown in pupils’ ability in French in the areas of oracy, literacy, intercultural understanding and their knowledge about the language. Their books and views reveal their enjoyment of the subject. These indicators reflect the impact of deep learning.

• Through wider reading and experiences in French, children are beginning to gain an appreciation and understanding of the country and some of its historical links to other parts of the world and historical events. For example, they learn about France and French culture as part of the Year 5 Geography theme ‘Our European Neighbours’. This theme in turn builds on knowledge developed in Year 3.