French (MfL)
Our Curriculum Intent for French (MFL)
“Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world” (National Curriculum 2014 programme of study for Languages).
The 2014 National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages aims to ensure that all children:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources.
- Are able to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and that they are continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
At Ursula Taylor C of E School we are committed to ensuring that competence in another language enables children to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures. It also helps children develop skills that will open further opportunities later in life. The teaching of French in years 3 – 6, provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3.
Implementation
Children are introduced to French from Year 3 and receive a weekly 30 minute lesson, throughout their time in school. This enables the children to develop early language acquisition skills that facilitate their understanding of the patterns of language and how these differ from, or are similar to, English.
- Lessons across the Key Stage support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
- Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games.
- Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in French that are delivered through the curriculum content.
- Children develop the skills to write at length for different purposes and audiences and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in French.
We follow the primary MFL scheme of work from ‘Classroom Secrets’ that covers the aims of the Languages programme of study as stated in the National Curriculum 2014. The scheme has an equal balance of spoken and written French and the resources provided model good pronunciation which supports non- French speaking staff in teaching it.
Teaching and Learning
- We recognise that language learning in its broadest sense has three core strands - oracy, literacy and intercultural understanding. We also recognise that children should be encouraged to apply their knowledge and that we should equip them with strategies for language learning that they can use in the future, when studying another foreign language.
- As a result, opportunities to develop knowledge about language (KAL) and language learning strategies (LLS) underpin the three core strands. This follows the five strands recommended in the KS2 Framework for Languages (DCSF).
- We use a variety of techniques to encourage the children to engage actively in the modern foreign language: these include games, role-play and songs (particularly action songs). We frequently use mime, pictures and games to accompany new vocabulary in the foreign language, as this teaches the language without the need for translation.
- We teach the four strands of speaking, listening, reading and writing and to understand basic grammar, including: feminine, masculine and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.
- We use a multi-sensory approach to teaching. Research has also shown that physical responses planned into lessons help to improve enjoyment, provide opportunities for reinforcement through actions, help memory through actions, increase confidence as movement and games can provide safe ways of speaking aloud and it helps learning through creating a positive atmosphere.
- We make the lessons as entertaining and enjoyable as possible as we realise that this approach serves to develop a positive attitude in the children to the learning of modern foreign languages. We build children's confidence through praise for any contribution that they make in the foreign language, however tentative.
- We allow for differentiation, with a range of strategies, which include:
- Providing resources and setting tasks of different complexities, matched to the ability of the child.
- Setting common tasks which are open-ended and can have a variety of responses.
- Providing speaking and writing frames to scaffold responses.
- Using a range of questioning
Planning and Resources
The school has adapted the Classroom Secrets scheme, to provide teachers at all levels of French with a weekly plan, to ensure that French is taught with accuracy and confidence.
The resources include:
- Access to guides to help with pronunciation.
- Detailed lesson plans to ensure progression
- Games, poems, songs and books to enable repetition of skills
- PowerPoint presentations to enable effective teaching.
- Access to writing opportunities
- Video tutorials to support the understanding of a range of concepts
Impact
Our MFL curriculum ensures that children develop their knowledge of where different languages, including the range of home languages spoken by the families of the school, as well as French, are spoken in the world.
Varied learning experiences, also ensure that languages are celebrated throughout the school community whilst providing a context for language learning and develop the children’s understanding of different cultures. This ties in with other curriculum areas including PHSCE, RE, History and Geography.
The children are assessed continually throughout the year, with the teacher giving feedback through marking and verbal feedback.
This process is supported by the end of KS2 statements in the National Curriculum 2014.
Parents receive assessment information regarding MFL in yearly reports.
Equal Opportunities
At Ursula Taylor C of E School we are committed to promoting equal opportunities irrespective of socioeconomic background, gender, disability and ethnicity in all areas of the curriculum. We believe all children should have access to participate in the learning of languages and to be supported in this process.
Inclusion
At Ursula Taylor C of E School, we teach a modern foreign language to all children. A modern foreign language forms part of the school’s commitment to providing a broad and balanced education to all children. Through our modern foreign language teaching, we provide learning opportunities that enable all children to make progress. We do this by setting suitable learning challenges and responding to each child's different needs.