Modern Foreign Languages

Learning a foreign language is part of the primary National Curriculum and is a requirement for all children within key stage 2 (KS2). Smarden has adopted a whole school approach to the teaching of French to all KS2 pupils.  However, we believe that by starting French with children as young as Year 1, through songs, games and immersion in whole school language events, we will foster a love of the subject right from the start.  Why French?  Our location makes this extremely relevant with the local Channel Tunnel at Ashford.  We aim to re-establish a link with a primary school is Wissant and despite Brexit, teach the children to be able to continue to communicate with our European neighbours.

Aims

Our aim is to develop the confidence and competence of each child in the foreign language they are learning. Our goal is for them to be passionate, curious and confident about their own foreign language learning abilities when they finish the primary school phase of their education.

We will help them develop and demonstrate substantial progress in the 5 key language skills necessary for learning French:

• Speaking
• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar
   

We aim to ensure that pupils of all abilities develop solid foundations in these key language learning skills - properly preparing them for the next stage of their language learning journey. These skills will develop children’s ability to understand what they hear and read and enable them to express themselves in speech and writing. We will extend their knowledge of how language works and explore the similarities and differences between the foreign language they are learning and English. We will also help strengthen their sense of identity through learning about culture in other countries and comparing it with their own.  This links with our Geography curriculum, and we aim to use our link with the primary school in Wissant to help children compare and contrast both language, culture and lifestyle in both locations.