Languages (French)
“Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.” Roger Bacon
Subject Leader: Miss H Martyn
Rationale: Purpose of Study (taken from the National Curriculum)
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. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
Intent
At Nanpean School, we believe that the learning of a language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our children, giving them a broader perspective on the world while encouraging the children to develop a curiosity to deepen their understanding of their own and others’ cultures. We also believe that such coverage can also positively impact a child’s knowledge in relation to how language works, ensure children develop curiosity in relation to language, while laying the foundations for further language learning in the future. Through making links between our own language and another language, our intention is for this to instil a love of language learning within our children.
We intend our teaching to enable the children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language (French) and for them to be able to communicate for practical purposes in this language, knowing key words and phrases, while also immersing the children in literature (books and stories) from different languages and cultures, when appropriate. Our aim is to ensure that children can understand and respond to French speaking, and speak themselves in French with increasing confidence and fluency, by the end of Key Stage 2, and so that this prepares them for further language learning in Key Stage 3, while this could also lead to enhanced career prospects and opportunities later in life.
Implementation
All classes have access to a high-quality (Modern Foreign) Languages Curriculum using a scheme of work and resources adopted by the school and planned by the Subject Leader. This progressively develops skills in foreign languages through well-planned and resourced weekly lessons in Key Stage 2 which are taught by class teachers. Previously, a MFL / Languages specialist has been used to support classes, sourced externally, and then taught by Mr Nicholls (Headteacher) who delivered French sessions to KS2 children each week as he has certificates (following attendance at professional development events) to teach languages in the Primary School.
We have chosen to teach French to ensure our children have the best start to their secondary language education where children study this language to GCSE level.
Children will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes - building blocks of language into more complex and fluent language. They build on previous knowledge gradually as their foreign language lessons continue to recycle, revise and consolidate previously learnt language whilst building on all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Grammar concepts are taught throughout units.
At Nanpean School, we have a long term plan in place outlining what each class in each year group will be taught (and when). Each class in each year group will have an overview of units to be taught during the academic year to ensure progress and learning outcomes are achieved. Each teaching unit is divided into 6 fully planned and resourced lessons, which is known as the ‘sequence of learning’. Lessons have clearly defined objectives and aims, while the unit has clearly defined end points. Lessons incorporate practical activities as well as reading and writing tasks, where appropriate.
Extra-Curricular opportunities
In addition to following the lessons provided in our Languages Curriculum, we explore languages in other, age appropriate ways, such as:
- Foreign language celebrations (such as for International Languages Day in February 2024).
- Tasting and / or cookery sessions of traditional foods from the country of the language being studied (not just in Languages lessons but across the Curriculum).
- Weather forecasts based on maps from the country of the language being studied.
Impact
- Internal Pupil Conferencing (Headteacher and Subject Leader) in 2023-24 has shown that 95% of our KS2 children say they enjoy Languages lessons and related activities. They also have a developing awareness in relation to how language learning can positively impact their future.
- Learning Objectives defined by the Subject Leader have in-built assessment tasks which are used by Teachers to measure children’s progress against objectives linked to the National Curriculum.
- Pupil Conferencing identified that children are not as confident at defining vocabulary in Languages as in other subjects. The main reason for this was quickly identified as the fact that most of this vocabulary is learnt during the unit, then not used frequently as children do not speak this language every day or at home. The intention is that, over time, as children’s language skills build and they encounter topics and themes which revisit previous learnt vocabulary, this vocabulary will be remembered. The impact of this will be monitored in the next monitoring cycle.
SEND
Our Languages Curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. We consider ways of minimising and reducing barriers so that all pupils are included. The areas where we consider varying approaches, adaptations and scaffolds include: maintaining an inclusive learning environment; using multi-sensory approaches (including ICT); managing peer relationships through particular groupings to support specific children in their learning; using a wide range of recording methods; ensuring clear communication relevant to the needs of the children; and allowing for formative assessment by ensuring learning objectives and outcomes are understood by all children and assessment methods are wide ranging so not specifically reliant on writing ability.
British Values
At Nanpean School, British Values are promoted through the Languages Curriculum in the following ways, while we also learn about British Values at other specific times, such as during Collective Worship opportunities (Assemblies).
Mutual Respect and Tolerance – Children develop a mutual respect through considering the different opinions, beliefs and abilities of others. As a result, children learn to become more tolerant, appreciating similarities and differences between themselves and others in the wider world. This also teaches the children that all people, and their views, are of equal importance.
Democracy – During lessons, children have appropriate opportunities to learn about socially acceptable behaviour in French, including, for example, the more formal (and informal) conventions of speech.
Individual Liberty – Children learn to respect individual differences and are confident to express their opinions and respect the views of others.
Rule of Law - Children understand the need for rules, and, at appropriate times, learn about rules in place in other countries.
SMSC
At Nanpean School we have the following themes in our Languages Curriculum shown below. Although we do not use this scheme of work as a basis for learning, we use it for other curriculum subjects and the themes are relevant to our Languages Curriculum:
During Languages (French) lessons, children are constantly encouraged, when appropriate and in relation to the theme on the right hand side of the image above, to gain an understanding of French culture and compare and contrast this with our own and other cultures throughout the world. Children are also encouraged to speak in French, which supports development of their social skills.
How you can help your child at home
Why not learn phrases from our chosen focus language (French) or another language as a family? This could also lead to discussions about places we would like to visit on holiday!
Facilitate discussions with your child in relation to their French learning (see the Overview document which is one of the attachment links above). You could also discuss with your child the French vocabulary they are learning.
The following websites could also be used to support your child: