Intent
French is spoken by over 220 million people across five continents and is the most widely learned language after English. French is the international language of cooking, fashion, visual arts, dance, architecture and many more.
At Longlands, we believe that it is important, through the French curriculum, to open linguistic and cultural windows to the pupils onto the world they live in. We aim at instilling in pupils a love of learning a foreign language and developing key linguistic skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) that are transferrable to any language that the pupils may choose to learn in future. Not only does this secure the language skills but also supports our pupils’ transition to secondary school.
Also, our French curriculum aims at gaining and developing an understanding of another country and their culture. It encourages respect for other people and diversity.
Implementation
At Longlands, pupils start learning French in Key Stage Two. We base our teaching on the Language Angels scheme of learning to support our French curriculum as it is an enjoyable and interactive programme. The learning is progressive, built upon year-on-year linguistic acquisition. Pupils start learning basic words and phrases and they progress to long, more complex sentences as they develop their understanding of the French language.
The audio-visual and comprehensive resources are excellent to help all the pupils progress. The engaging content not only makes learning French more enjoyable but also helps pupils improve their language proficiency and prepare them for studying a foreign language when they leave the primary setting.
Many of the units of Language Angels link well to other areas of our curriculum and are used as retrieval practice for subjects as science, history, geography and music.
We ensure that:
- Learning French is fun and joy. Pupils explore French through a variety of fantastic, well-sequenced resources such as games, songs, puzzles, quizzes, crosswords and audio files
- Phonics, vocabulary and grammar are taught explicitly so that pupils continue to develop their ability to understand and produce language
- Communication and literacy skills are enhanced by practising speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
- Cultural understanding is increased by encouraging pupils to compare and contrast aspects of the French culture to the British culture
- Memorisation skills and the ability to interpret meaning are improved through various items of vocabulary and grammatical structures
- Knowledge of grammar rules is reinforced and made clearer by comparing French to English
- Learning French promotes self-confidence, develops critical thinking skills, problem solving, creativity and flexibility of mind.