“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” (Frank Smith)
French Menu
Intent
At Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge CE Primary School, we want to provide children with opportunities to appreciate and celebrate differences and broaden their knowledge of culture. Through the teaching of a modern foreign language (MFL), we provide our children with a valuable educational, social and cultural experience. In turn, it helps to instil three of our key values: compassion, respect and perseverance.
Learning a new language helps them to develop communication skills including the key skills of speaking and listening and extends their knowledge of how language works. Learning another language gives children a new perspective on their world, encouraging them to understand and appreciate their own cultures and those of others. Children learn that it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language. Above all, the learning of another language is fun, can be enjoyed and accessed by all children
Following their French lessons at Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge C.E. School, our children will be engaged and prepared to continue language learning at Secondary School.
Implementation
As part of the National Curriculum, all Key Stage 2 pupils must learn another language during school time. At Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE School we have chosen to teach French to all children within KS2.
In accordance with the National Curriculum, children will learn to:
• Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling
• Sound and meaning of words
• Engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others, seek clarification and help
• Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing; and understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant) feminine, masculine and neuter 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.
At Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge CE School, we use the ‘Primary Languages Network’ scheme of work to help us deliver the French lessons in school. This is aligned to the National Curriculum and provides us with high quality resources to support children learning a new language.
The aim is for a class to cover one unit of work per half-term. Lessons focus on the four core skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The curriculum is designed to ensure children are taught the three main building blocks of the language: the sounds (Phonics), words (vocabulary), and the rules for how these connect to create sentences and meaning (grammar). The curriculum is design specifically to ensure children build upon their previous knowledge of the phonics, vocabulary and grammar of the French language. Therefore, frequent opportunities are given for children to revisit previous learning, so children remember more and build their knowledge. The children have access to videos with a native French speaker, ensuring they have opportunity to listen to clear and reliable pronunciation of the French phonics and vocabulary.
French Curriculum Overview