French

Vision

Our young linguists experience a breadth of vocabulary, stories and cultures throughout their time here. They develop an appreciation of foreign languages and the roots and patterns of the spoken word. Children enjoy traditional tales from around the world and experience familiar stories in French, which is our chosen language.

French grammar and vocabulary is discussed as well as differences and similarities with English. Children feel empowered to practise their French speaking and pronunciation, their writing and reading, in a safe and nurturing environment. French is studied from Year 3 to year 6.

Cave Languages French KS2 Scheme of Work.

Intent

At Evendons pupils:

develop resilience in language learning as well as enjoyment of it through a challenging scheme of work
acquire language learning strategies for memorisation and retrieval as well as for listening, reading and understanding
learn how to use a bilingual dictionary to decode an unfamiliar language
are able to manipulate language to speak or write sentences creatively using prior knowledge of grammar and key features, with and without a dictionary
have a sound grasp of the key sounds of the French language and their corresponding graphemes, and are able to apply this knowledge when speaking, listening and reading aloud
recognise some of the language patterns of French and how these differ or are similar to English
appreciate and are able to copy the sound of the language at text level through songs, stories and rhymes
have a deeper understanding of cultural differences and similarities
demonstrate substantial progress in learning French and work towards or meet the targets set for them by the end of Year 6.

Implementation

Lessons are designed to be 30 minutes in length for Year 3 and 4, and 45 minutes in length for Year 5 and 6. There are follow-up activities to each lesson to increase the exposure time during the week
Lessons are designed to be progressive and build on prior learning, moving from word to sentence level over four years
Lesson plans include ideas to support the less able, and to challenge the more able
Lesson activities are challenging, varied and interactive and develop listening, reading, speaking and writing skills
The choice of vocabulary ensures exposure to all the key phonic sounds and ability to build sentences using grammatical knowledge
In Year 6, material is revisited to consolidate prior knowledge
Linguistic up-skilling and methodology training is available to support the delivery of French lessons. All teachers have access to detailed lesson plans linked to ready-made resource templates and audio recordings of stories and rhymes read by a native speaker
Resources in class: whiteboard resources with audio support, storybooks and phonics books, additional resources are recommended particularly for songs and rhymes

Languages (French) Whole School Overview.

Impact

We regularly attend the Thames Valley Primary Language Hub
Attention is paid to all 27 Francophone countries and their culture
30 families participated in Cultural Day with 22 countries represented
We offer extra-curricular language clubs: Spanish and Italian. Spanish club in particular is very well attended – some children have been participating since nursery with the same Spanish teacher
Children are enthusiastic and open to learning new languages: Year 2 spoke and sang in French in their nativity performance, whilst Year 3 showed cultural awareness and shared national food specialities as part of their World Food topic
Years 5 and 6 celebrate French language and culture with a morning of activities to mark Bastille Day on 14 July
As a result of pupil voice, we are ensuring that we are celebrating all the different nationalities and languages represented by the children in each class.

“Learning a language is really useful, you can talk to people on holiday and it can help you in your career. Once you’ve learnt one foreign language, it makes it easier to learn another one. I’m learning Latin on Duolingo!”