At Toft Hill Primary School, we aim to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want our pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in French for practical purposes, using both written and spoken French. We aim to give our pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to potentially learning further languages, preparing them for the next stage of their education. We have used Kapow Primary’s French schemes of work as a basis for our curriculum which supports pupils to meet the national curriculum end of Key stage 2 expectations (there are no Key stage 1 attainment targets for Languages). Pupils start to learn French in Year 3, as they move into Key Stage 2.
Our schemes of work follow Kapow’s approach and are designed with six strands that run throughout.
These are:
- Speaking and pronunciation (including phonics)
- Listening
- Reading and writing
- Grammar
- Intercultural understanding
- Language detective skills
All of our schemes of work are mapped out to the national Curriculum to ensure thorough coverage. We have outlined how the necessary skills and knowledge are be taught and progress throughout the schemes in each year group and throughout the Key Stage. Our pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. There are balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written French, although in Year 3 the focus is on developing oral skills, before incorporating written French in Year 4 and beyond. The curriculum follows a spiral approach, with key skills and vocabulary revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. This helps them to know and remember more of their learning. Learning through our French units, allows children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of their learning, again providing more opportunities to secure their knowledge and understanding.
Teachers use a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including role-play, language games and language detective work. Our schemes of work focus on developing ‘language detective skills’ and developing an understanding of French grammar together with a Key vocabulary and pronunciation. Lessons are adapted to ensure that they can be accessed and enjoyed by all. Key Stage 2 pupils are taught discrete lessons weekly within their class and every lesson includes a ‘Flashback’ to revise key prior learning. In order to help pupils to retain their French learning, we incorporate French into the classroom environment sporadically throughout the week.
In preparation for moving on to the next stage of their education, by the time pupils leave our school we aim that children will:
- Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g., ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.
- Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases, and short texts.
- Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
- Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.
- Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
- Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.
- Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French (and English)
- Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.
- Meet the end of Key Stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for Languages.
MFL (French) Key Stage 2 Curriculum Overview
Year 3 French Curriculum Intent
Year 4 French Curriculum Intent
Year 5 French Curriculum Intent
Year 6 French Curriculum Intent
Toft Hill Primary School LTP MFL (1)
