Modern Foreign Languages

 

Intent

 

At St Joseph’s Primary School, we intend to deliver an exciting, vibrant and high-quality languages education that will inspire and engage our pupils and deepen their understanding of the world.  Pupils will be taught to express their basic ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. We will provide opportunities for children to communicate for practical purposes and provide the foundation for continuing to study languages beyond Key Stage 2.  

 

Implementation

 

At St. Joseph’s we teach French from Year 3, in line with the National Curriculum guidelines.   

The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught and all necessary grammar covered progressively.  This enables our pupils to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary. The focus of study in French is on practical communication.

Pupils are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding to the teacher. They explore patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words. Children engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others. They begin to speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures. Over time, children develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases.

We use games, role-play, songs, mime and stories to encourage the children to have an active engagement in French.

 

Impact

 

All pupils receive a rich and engaging curriculum, recently updated for 2020.  Pupils will continuously build on their previous knowledge as they progressively acquire and develop new skills.  They work both independently and as part of a group, ensuring skills of resilience and teamwork are promoted in French.