Our MFL Curriculum 

"To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world." – Chinese Proverb

Intent

At St Nicolas’, we believe that an introduction to a foreign language at an early age fosters pupils’ curiosity about the world and opens their eyes to other cultures. We want to inspire a love for language learning and deepen their understanding of the world. Now more than ever, feeling connected to the wider world liberates us from insularity and we believe that language learning provides the ideal pathway for pupils to feel this link.

Language learning encourages pupils to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, all of which are transferable to other subjects in the curriculum. It also provides them with the opportunity to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and give them a solid foundation for learning further languages and communicating with the world.

Aims for pupils:

• Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes
• Use familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of sources
• Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity through discussions and questions
• Begin to use a variety of grammatical structures
• Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing within the language studied
• Understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing
• Acquire the foundation skills needed for further language study

Implementation

We teach French across Key Stage 2. Our progression maps provide a clear sequence for the development of speaking and listening and vocabulary acquisition. There are resources to support the teaching and learning opportunities for pupils, including sound links for correct pronunciation and knowledge organisers. Children have x1 45 minutes lesson of French per week. Work is recorded in their books. These books move with pupils from year 3 to year 6 so that previous learning is accessible to all. Pupils will continuously build on their previous knowledge as they progress in their learning.

We use a variety of the following techniques to encourage children to have an active engagement with French:

• Games – in order to develop vocabulary through repetition, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills

• Role-play – these should relate to the situations the children may find themselves in the future

• Action songs and rhymes – to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to further vocabulary

• Reading and writing quality materials

• We build children’s confidence through praise for any contribution they make in the foreign language, however tentative

Impact

The impact of the French curriculum will be measured by learning walks, pupil voice, live feedback grids and book monitoring. Through the high-quality first teaching of French taking place we will see the impact of the subject in the following ways:

• Children will become aware that a language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another

• Children will develop their language and communication through development of the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing

• Children will enrich their language learning by developing an understanding of the French culture

• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills