OUR KINGSTON FRENCH CURRICULUM 

We Are Linguists!

HOW WE GET OUR CHILDREN TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF A MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND DEVELOP THEIR FRENCH VOCABULARY.

INTENT

We want our pupils to have a real passion for languages  and a curiosity for learning another language. Our aim is for them to feel confident when in a foreign country to ‘try out’ their knowledge of the French language.  Through our carefully thought-out programme of study our pupils will expand their knowledge of the world and  the culture and traditions of another  country. The curriculum is planned so that children are provided with the opportunity to experiment with expressing their ideas and thoughts in another language   Our belief is that the acquisition of a different language deepens pupil’s understanding of the world around them and makes a contribution to the development of their oracy and literacy skills.  

French is taught to all of our junior pupils and is introduced to our infants in the form of songs, poems and books.   Our aim is for our infant pupils to be excited about the prospect of formally learning French in year three.   

It is the aim of our MFL curriculum to ensure all of our pupils:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources;
• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity with a focus on 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;
• meet the national curriculum end of Key Stage 2 attainment targets;
• absorb the culture of a different country.

IMPLEMENTATION

We have chosen a scheme of work (KAPOW)  that meets the expectations of the national curriculum. The teaching of French at Kingston  is very visual and  interactive, using lots of games, songs, pictures and role play.

We teach our children languages through:

• Speaking
• Listening
• Writing
• Reading
• Phonics
• Grammar

Our pupils are taught French by our teachers who are supported by our French lead.  There is an emphasis on acquisition of vocabulary in our French lessons  which is constantly retrieved so that it goes into our pupils’ long term memories.   Our spiral curriculum provides increasing complexity of language and ensures that no vocabulary is lost along the way.  We focus a lot on cognate words and ask pupils to spot them within texts.  Phonics is central to our teaching  as we know that there is real value in the children knowing different phonemes and graphemes as this supports them to decode and pronounce new words.   French grammar is taught throughout the curriculum to ensure that our pupils are ready to write full sentences by the time they leave Kingston

We start introducing French in EYFS because the younger the children are, the more receptive they are to language and the less inhibited they feel.  They are introduced to the new language through learning French songs and poems together with sharing French story books.

All of our junior teachers are committed to ensuring that French is used throughout the week, not just during the weekly lesson. Vocabulary is displayed and used regularly to ensure that our pupils transfer new vocabulary to their long-term memory. We teach French for at least 30 minutes a week. 

All pupils have a French cultural experience at least once a year. We believe this is especially important for our disadvantaged pupils who might not have the opportunity to travel abroad.  We celebrate the European day of languages to give languages a higher profile across the school.

Our pupils are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by responding to questions. We encourage them to engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, express opinions and respond to those of others in French.

There is a robust assessment system in place to ensure that all pupils are making progress and that any gaps in learning are highlighted and addressed. WHY U and WHY R cards are used for formative assessment and to aid memory retrieval.

IMPACT

Our pupils will have a good working knowledge of French vocabulary and feel proud of their ability to converse and write in a second language.   Their positive experience of learning a second language at Kingston will encourage them to build upon their acquired vocabulary and grammar to become fluent in French or any other language of their choosing in the future.  Their curiosity about another country and its language will have been ignited and they will be ready to further develop their learning of a foreign language at secondary school.  Our pupils will be on a trajectory that will enable them to study and work in other countries when they are older if they should choose to do so.

Some helpful resources to help your child to consolidate their French learning at home and become more fluent:

How to Support your Child at Home

Below are some interactive websites the children can visit to have fun with French whilst learning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z39d7ty

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2french.html