Stranton Primary School
Only the best is good enough

Modern Foreign Languages

In MFL, we learn the skills to begin to communicate in French.

The teaching of French in Stranton Primary School fits in with our rationale and aims for our whole school curriculum:

They include ensuring that the curriculum:

Has the needs of the children at the heart of everything we do
Is based on a strong foundation of oracy
Meets the needs of our local community
Is full of exciting, enriching and enjoyable learning experiences
Provides opportunities for our children, staff and parents to all learn together.
Positively improves academic outcomes
Prepares our children to become positive role models in and effective contributors to Society
Gives our pupils the chance to become the very best versions of themselves.

Or in short, a curriculum which provides only the very best education, opportunities and experiences for all of our pupils.

Vision for French

The aim of French teaching, here at Stranton Primary School is to foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. We don’t want children to just use French in School; we want them to develop a foundation (i.e. their long term memory) for learning further languages, equipping them to study, communicate and work in other countries.

This will be done by ensuring our children:

understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
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
can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

Curriculum End points

By the end of Key Stage 2 we want ALL children:

to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified below

Pupils should be taught:

listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing Languages – key stage 2 3
understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

This will ensure all pupils are ready and able to access the Key Stage 3 curriculum and beyond.

Teaching of French

French is taught as a discrete session. Objectives are progressive and sequential; teaching children an array of skills that will enable them to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing.

The school uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches in French lessons, including:

We encourage children to participate in a variety of French experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children.
Singing lies at the heart of good French teaching. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the meaning of French words.
We teach them to listen to and appreciate different forms of spoken French language. As children get older, to listen to more extended pieces of French language.
Children develop descriptive skills in French lessons when learning about how spoken language can represent feelings and emotions. We teach children to converse together, to understand French words/greetings, and to compose extend grammatical sentences.
The use of external French ‘experts’ to compliment the teaching of French in School.
Access to specialist programmes – ‘Rigolo’
Teaching provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language
Our focus on oracy allows children to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary.
A great emphasis is placed on practical communication.

We recognise the fact that we have children of differing ability in all our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies which are differentiated by task, expected outcome and/or support from peers or adults.

Recording of French

Children will record pieces of French work - either individually or as a collective, which will then be shared during assemblies, on Stranton FM or via our social media platforms. Video recordings will be used to demonstrate conversations in the French language.

Assessment of French

In order to assess the children’s knowledge in French, teachers will track the children’s progress against what has been taught to allow them to identify gaps in learning. This will enable misconceptions or knowledge which hasn’t been retained to be addressed in the ‘revisit’ section of future lessons. At the end of each term, teachers will give an overall judgement of each child, recording attainment on the school’s curriculum tracking sheet. This judgement will be based on evidence from performance in class. Teachers will also conduct observational assessments of children during lessons and assess verbal responses from children in line with our oracy framework.

Monitoring of French

Monitoring takes place regularly through sampling children’s work, lesson observations and importantly talking to the children – ensuring they enjoy each subject and can recall key knowledge of what they have been taught.