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Modern Foreign Language

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.

Teaching and Learning Overview

Our whole school approach to language teaching and learning is in line with the recommendations of the National Curriculum and the requirements outlined in the Department for Education Languages Programme of Study for Key Stage 2.

The National Curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:

Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and 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 authentic writing in the language studied.

Organisation & Delivery

French is taught in a whole-class setting by the class teacher and is therefore not reliant on one key member of staff.

Teachers plan their lessons using the Language Angels scheme of work and can supplement this with their own ideas and experience and those of their colleagues.

The lessons are designed to motivate, captivate and interest children from the first moment. They have clear, achievable objectives and incorporate different learning styles. SEN children have access to the curriculum through variation of task, grouping or support from an adult.

Each class has a timetabled lesson of at least forty minutes per week.

French can also be revisited in Learning Launchpads throughout the week to consolidate knowledge and ensure new language is retained.

French lessons include:

PowerPoints and interactive whiteboard materials
Interactive games (which pupils can access from home to consolidate their learning)
Songs & raps
Differentiated desk-based consolidation activities
Worksheets (at three different levels of challenge) are provided throughout each teaching unit.

Each lesson will focus on a combination of the 5 key language learning skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar).

Resources

The Language Angels scheme is a fully online resource enabling all teachers in all classes to have instant and continuous access to all the resources they need to teach whichever lesson they choose.

Planning, Progression and Knowledge Organisers

Knowledge Organisers and unit vocab lists

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Modern Foreign Language

Aims

Teaching and Learning Overview

Organisation & Delivery

Resources

French Curriculum for Years 1-6 2022-2023

Progression of Knowledge in French

Long term Plan for French 2021-2024

Knowledge Organisers and unit vocab lists