Rationale:

At Westcliffe Primary School we believe that learning a foreign language provides the children with a gateway to exploring other cultures, fostering curiosity and tolerance whilst deepening their understanding of the world. We want our pupils to enjoy learning a new language through engaging, practical and written activities that allow them to really embrace learning a modern foreign language and prepare them for their future – all be it at Secondary school or as they go out into the world of work. We wish “to instil a love of learning and equip all our children with the skills they need later in life.” (Our school ethos)

All pupils in Key Stage 2 are given the opportunity to learn French. At Westcliffe Primary School, we use the Salut! teaching scheme alongside additional games and songs, a real life book/story and once a year, we immerse the children in a French celebration afternoon. Salut! engages the children though clear, modelled vocabulary, lively songs, interactive games and short focused written tasks. It has been adjusted to take into account the Y3/4 and Y5/6 cohorts.

Aims:

• to understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
• to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
• to discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied

How the subject is taught:

Across KS2, French is taught once a week for half an hour during PPA sessions.

The subject is taught through:

• teaching skills through listening, speaking, reading, writing and developing cultural awareness
• giving opportunities to respond to spoken and written language from a variety of different sources
• encouraging and enabling pupils to speak with increasing confidence and spontaneity
• integrating language learning across the curriculum (where appropriate)

If you walk into a French lesson, you will expect to see:

• Smiles - Enthusiastic children who are engaged in learning and demonstrating a ‘have a go’ approach in a safe environment
• Teachers who are embracing speaking in French alongside the children and who are embedding language into lessons through praise and instruction
• A range of different activities within each session
• Progression in skills and vocabulary across the two cohorts

If you have any questions about MFL (French), please contact our subject leader – Miss Sarah Gilchrist.