French
Languages lessons at Stafford Leys give children opportunities to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both verbally and in writing. They also provide opportunities to read age-appropriate literature and learn songs in the target language. Languages lessons at Stafford Leys aim to provide a firm foundation for further language-learning, equipping children with the skills that they need in order to become life-long language learners, both for the pleasure that can be derived from doing so, and for the practical purpose of equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
We teach a curriculum that enables our pupils to become effective users of language and show an understanding and respect of different cultures. Through the teaching of high-quality French lessons, we aim to:
- Ensure that each child in Key Stage Two has the opportunity to study French as a foreign language over four years, fostering their interest in the culture of France and the Francophone world.
- Teach vocabulary and linguistic structures informed by the National Curriculum and the skills expressed therein: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (as well as Cultural Understanding).
- Enable children to ask and answer a range of questions about themselves, which would allow them to confidently address a French speaker and exchange simple, personal information.
- Teach children the basics of phonics in French to allow them to spell in a phonetically plausible way and read and speak with increased confidence and improved pronunciation.
- Systematically develop pupils’ vocabulary and provide opportunities for children to manipulate language for their own purposes, drawing on their knowledge of increasingly complex sentence structures and grammatical rules.
- Enable children to draw comparisons between French and English (or their home language) vocabulary, using their knowledge of cognates to decode unfamiliar texts of increasing complexity. Give children opportunities to make, and learn from, mistakes in the target language, thereby building resilience.
- Develop children’s understanding of French as a global language, and the reasons why it is spoken in countries other than France.
- Enable children to understand their place in the wider world and the concept of interdependence.
What is special about MFL at Stafford Leys?
French is taught by a member of the school’s teaching staff, who holds a degree in Modern Language Studies and has undergone extensive additional training in MFL pedagogy. Lessons, of roughly 40 minutes, happen weekly. Children enjoy a range of cultural activities, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of, the culture of France and the French-speaking world.
In addition to their French lessons, Year 6 children have the opportunity to join the Language Ambassadors – a weekly club where they can explore other languages and help to raise the profile of language learning in school.
British Values and Citizenship
Through Languages lessons, pupils are taught to show empathy and understanding of individuals from different backgrounds. The learning of another language gives pupils regular opportunities to encounter and consider different cultures and beliefs – both French and Francophone.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Learning another language opens pupils’ eyes to the vast diversity of the world in which we live and promotes an understanding of equality, regardless of race, gender or ethnicity.
Character
Language learning is a challenging process, which takes many years and considerable dedication to master. It requires children to be willing to make mistakes and wrestle with complex grammatical and linguistic concepts. In learning to deal effectively with the inevitable setbacks that learning a foreign language will bring, children are enabled to forge a high level of perseverance and resilience, life-long learning skills that are fundamental to academic success.
Metacognition
Language lessons are full of opportunities for children to develop their metacognition. From working out a grammatical rule from a set of examples to considering how a sentence could be extended to give more detail and unpicking a text full of unknown words for meaning, pupils are constantly encouraged to think more deeply about what they already know and how they can use this information to solve a problem or extract meaning. Pupils are also encouraged to think about why they are learning a specific skill and how this will make them better language-learners
Communication and Language
The ultimate aim of Languages learning is to be able to communicate, both verbally and in writing, with others. In learning another language, children have the opportunity to find new ways to communicate with people all around the world. In learning French, pupils also deepen their understanding of English, or, in some cases, their community language. Discussions around cognates, for example, enable pupils to recognise the links between French and English and use these to successfully understand an unfamiliar text in the target language.
Aspiration
Proficiency in a foreign language broadens horizons for children and opens up the potential for foreign travel. It is also highly beneficial in terms of career opportunities, both in the UK and abroad, and prepares children to be active citizens of an increasingly globalised world, in which English may no longer be the international lingua franca.
Curriculum organisation
The current programme of study has been developed by the Languages specialist teacher, ensuring coverage of reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar, and building in opportunities for children to revisit knowledge at varying degrees of complexity at a variety of points throughout the four years of study. Early on in their learning journey, children learn simple introductions, numbers, colours and the days of the week as well as some basic grammatical rules, such as noun and adjective order. As they move further up the school, pupils begin to learn how to give opinions on various topics, and later to expand upon them, as well as tackling increasingly challenging grammatical concepts such as agreement between noun and adjective in the singular and then the plural, and more complex word order rules. They are also encouraged to find ways of extending their speaking and writing to communicate in more depth. A progression map demonstrates how French knowledge and skills are taught across Key Stage 2 and learning objectives are clearly planned into long and medium-term plans to demonstrate progression over time. Languages lessons at Stafford Leys are intended to be active and highly focused, with children working as a whole class, in small groups, or in mixed-ability pairs to complete tasks at their individual level. Activities include games, stories, songs, phonics, grammar and sentence building, rhymes, role-play and dictionary work.
Challenge for all
Our language curriculum ensures that we have high expectations of our children and encourages them to set themselves inspiring aspirations, as well as developing their confidence and ability to achieve these. Children are provided with high-quality scaffolds and supports in MFL lessons but are encouraged, particularly as they progress through the school, to take on the challenge of speaking and writing increasingly from memory. The curriculum offers a ‘no ceilings’ approach, meaning that children are all accessing similar work, although visual supports, pre-teaching or specific scaffolds may be needed to ensure that SEND pupils can access learning. The curriculum is designed to include plenty of opportunities for retrieval practice to ensure that children retain key the vocabulary and grammatical concepts, which will prepare them for a successful transition into Key Stage 3.
Assessment
Formative assessment is used during French lessons, allowing the teacher to determine the knowledge that pupils already have, as well as which children will need more support in terms of knowledge and understanding and who will need stretching further. This formative assessment is used to inform individual lessons, ensuring that they are adapted to meet the needs of all learners and that challenge is always provided. Progression is recorded with the help of regular mini-assessments to demonstrate both attainment and progress over time.
Our French leader is Angela Smith
French Key Stage 2 Core Vocabulary