Languages

Rationale - The Contribution of Foreign Language to Our Vision and to our School Curriculum

 

  • The learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils.
  • A high- quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.
  • Pupils will be enabled to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to respond to its speakers, both in speech and writing, laying the foundation for further foreign language learning at Key Stage 3.
  • It should provide opportunities for pupils to communicate for practical purposes and to learn new ways of thinking. This will help to prepare them for life in the Modern World.
  • It should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.   
  • The learning of a foreign language provides a medium for cross-curricular links and for reinforcement of knowledge, skills and understanding developed in other subjects. 

 

INTENT

The teaching and learning of French at Finstall First School contributes to our broad, balanced, relevant curriculum. We aim to meet the unique and varied needs of our pupils and enable all children to attain and achieve well. Through learning a foreign language, our pupils are helped to become good communicators and to develop key skills such as speaking and listening. It also helps to extend their knowledge of how their first language works. 

Learning another language also gives children a new perspective on the world. It encourages them to understand their own culture and to become more aware of the similarities and differences of others cultures and to be respectful, appreciative and reflective towards them.

We aim to ensure that all KS2 pupils:

  • Are introduced to French in a way that is enjoyable and fun and to foster positive attitudes towards foreign language learning
  • 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 they have learnt
  • Increase their cultural awareness by learning about France and their people.
  • Will be stimulated and encouraged to be curious about language and about other places in the world
  • Develop their speaking and listening skills when learning a new language
  • Develop their awareness of cultural similarities and differences
  • Are well prepared for future language learning, especially in Middle School

IMPLEMENTATION

Our Foreign Language Curriculum

French is the foreign language primarily taught at Finstall First School.The Department for Education National Curriculum Key stage 2 (2013) Languages Programme of Study is used as the basis for implementing our Curriculum.Resources such as ”Early-Start Languages” and “Rigolo” are used to support the teaching and learning of French at our School.

 Our MFL curriculum has been designed to progressively develop skills in French, which is the language that is primarily taught at Finstall First School.

Lessons are delivered by a specialist language teacher who is also a native French speaker.

Teaching and learning

A variety of techniques are used to encourage the children to have an active engagement in the learning of a foreign language:

  • We encourage a multi-sensory and kinaesthetic approach including games, role play, mime, rhymes and songs although our biggest focus, in Years 3 and 4, is on the development of children’s spoken language
  • Resources are available including flashcards, puppets, soft toys, cartoons, non-fiction books, traditional and well-known stories, CDs and a developing range of effective, interactive ICT resources including Education City on the Finstall School website
  • We aim to make lessons fun and enjoyable in order to develop a positive attitude towards Foreign languages
  • We embed Foreign languages into the curriculum and the life of the school through topic work, celebrations, assemblies, international days, etc. There is a Foreign languages display area in the library together with signs, labels and posters around school that relate to the children’s learning
  • We create whole-class, group, paired and individual work
  • We build confidence through praise and encouragement
  • Wherever possible we encourage children to use and apply their learning across the curriculum.

IMPACT

The impact of the teaching and learning of French is evidenced by the high-quality outcomes achieved in French in Years 3 and 4.

A high % of children attain a good understanding of the Learning Objectives by the end of each year and a reasonably high % also attain a deep understanding. Children are well prepared for the further teaching of French in Years 5 and 6 at Middle School. The French Subject Lead at Aston Fields Middle School has commented, regularly, on what a good start our children have made to the learning of the French language.

From pupil interviews, we have found that children know more, understand more, remember more and can do more with increasing confidence, resilience and independence. This can also be seen in lesson observations and, to some extent, in children’s work.