Intent

At Lovington Primary School, the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for pupils – providing them with:

• Knowledge and skills in the French language.
• Opportunities to communicate in the wider world.
• Skills to continue language learning and use languages for study and work.
• Enjoyment of language learning.
• A new perspective on the world, promoting positive attitudes and respect towards diversity and culture.

At Lovington Primary School children learn French.

The teaching of Modern Foreign Languages is fully inclusive for every child, providing a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum has been designed carefully in line with the key recommendations from Ofsted research reviews.

We want our children to:

• Develop language and communication skills.
• Understand how language is structured.
• Explore the similarities and differences between French, any heritage languages our children have and English.

Implementation

To ensure a high quality, progressive language education, we implement a curriculum which includes opportunities to develop the essential knowledge strands (phonics, vocabulary and grammar) in listening, reading, speaking and writing.

• Phonics – sounds and the letters which represent them.
• Vocabulary – a set of the most frequently used words.
• Grammar – the essential building blocks required to create simple sentences independently (including gender of nouns, singular and plural forms, adjectives (place and agreement), and the conjugation of key verbs)

EYFS and Key Stage 1

In EYFS and KS1, high-frequency words and phrases, including numbers and greetings, are progressively and discretely introduced, and they are embedded into everyday routines and conversations. Opportunities for positive learning experiences of additional languages, through song, rhymes, poems and games, are encouraged. This enables learners from all backgrounds to share their cultural and linguistic heritage with their peers, provoking curiosity and interest in the wider world.

Key Stage 2

Our KS2 children have a weekly French lesson of 30 minutes. We continue this with 5-minute follow-up tasks twice a week, to practise retrieval and improve retention of knowledge and skills.

We provide further opportunities to recap key vocabulary and develop children’s confidence. These are built into classroom routines, even just for a few minutes in the school day, e.g. when the children are lining up or answering the register. This vocabulary includes greetings, numbers, providing instructions, stating lunch preferences and giving praise. To foster independence, knowledge organisers with key vocabulary and grammar structures are available during the lesson for support.

Teachers make lessons enjoyable and fun to encourage positive attitudes. They adapt resources to support active engagement and meet different learning needs for all our children. Audio-enabled resources ensure that pronunciation is taught reliably and authentically.

In line with the National Curriculum, our Key Stage 2 children learn to:

• Listen and show understanding by joining in and responding.
• Read and show understanding of sounds, words and spellings, phrases and simple texts.
• Read aloud and speak in sentences.
• Describe people, places, things in speech and writing.
• Ask questions and express opinions.
• Adapt phrases to create new sentences.
• Use a dictionary.
• Identify key cultural and country-specific knowledge.

Impact

The Modern Foreign Language champions monitor the curriculum through learning walks, discussions with teaching staff and pupil interviews. Further development and training opportunities are identified.

Through high quality teaching of French taking place, our curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils develop:

• A love of language learning.
• Knowledge of French phonics, grammar and vocabulary and develop an ability to communicate through listening, reading, speaking and writing.
• Confidence to talk about their language knowledge and skills.
• An awareness and understanding of the culture in France and in French speaking countries.
• Respect for cultural differences and encourage children to be active, responsible and caring members of the community.

Assessment

Teachers build on children’s knowledge and skills by regularly reviewing the progress made. Teachers use questioning and children’s independent work to continually assess their knowledge in lessons. At the end of each unit, children complete knowledge and skills assessments in phonics, vocabulary and grammar which assess the specific knowledge they have been taught. This enables teachers to implement next steps.