French

'One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.'

Frank Smith

French Subject leader – Mrs C Bower

Intent

Our intent is for pupils to learn French through enjoyment of a range of language rich activities which will give them the skills and the confidence in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

In teaching French, we are developing learners who  

• Develop resilience in language learning as well as enjoyment of it
• Manipulate language to speak or write sentences creatively using prior knowledge of grammar and key features
• Develop the skill of how to use a bi-lingual dictionary to decode unfamiliar language
• Have a sound grasp of the key sounds of the French language and their corresponding graphemes and be able to apply this knowledge when speaking, listening, reading aloud and writing
• Appreciate and be able to copy the sound of the language through songs, stories, rhymes and games
• Have a deeper understanding of cultural differences and similarities

Implementation

At Stamford Bridge Primary School all children in Key Stage 2 have French lessons.  Children are taught all four strands of language learning, these are listening, speaking, reading and writing. They are taught these skills through a range of songs, rhymes, stories, games, activities and video clips. At Stamford Bridge Primary School we follow a scheme called ilanguages which is designed for the specialist and non-specialist language teacher. The language content is taught over a two-year program, with each year group covering carefully chosen units of work which meet the needs of the children and show progression across the Key Stage.  In addition, there is a strong phonics focus using Physical French Phonics. They engage in a lot of learning to train the ear, to tune into and learn how to produce the sounds of the language, through the teaching and learning of phonics and phonic related activities. The teaching of cultural understanding is an integral part of their learning. Children build on prior learning and extend their learning within each lesson.

Impact

Children at Stamford Bridge are well-prepared for KS3 languages. They acquire a range of skills including excellent pronunciation of keywords and make considerable progress. They gain a love for learning languages and a not frightened to ‘give it a go.’