French

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

Chinese Proverb

Intent: At St John’s, our Modern Foreign Languages curriculum aims to give children an awareness and understanding of other cultures and languages through the study of French. Our aim is to provide a high-quality languages education which fosters pupils’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. Skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing enable children to use and apply their French learning in a variety of contexts. An awareness of cultural differences promotes mutual respect, understanding of other people and tolerance. The teaching of French at St John’s Primary School provides excitement, enjoyment and challenge for children and teachers, helping to create enthusiastic learners and to develop positive attitudes to learning further languages.

Implementation: Our French curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills acquisition, and their ability to use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics. Children are encouraged and supported to develop their speaking and listening skills through conversational work, singing activities and games. As confidence and skills grow, children record their work through pictures, captions, and sentences.

French is taught weekly in all Key Stage 2 classes as discrete lessons. ‘Power Talk’ is introduced in Key Stage 1. This we have developed to build children’s repertoire of phrases to extend conversational French. Our progression in Power Talk phrases allows the children to grow in increasing confidence and fluency when communicating in French as children move through Key Stage 2.

The skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed through practical application and development through various topics in their learning journey from Year 1 to Year 6. Children in Year 3 and 4 are immersed in role play, song, rhyme and short stories to enable them to grow in confidence in all skill areas and build vocabulary knowledge. To develop further in Year 5 and 6, well known texts are used to engage children in acquiring deeper language skills and by the end of Key Stage 2 it is our expectation that learners can hold a conversation in French related to these texts, pick out all key details of the stories and write a full story of their own.

Opportunity for French curriculum enrichment comes through ‘The International Day of Languages’ which allows for a whole school focus on French language, life and culture, as well as our bi-annual International Theme Week.

EYFS: French in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) introduces the children to a country and culture different to their own. ‘Power Talk’ is introduced in Reception giving the children simple greetings to use. Rhymes, songs and stories are also used to introduce the language to the children, as well as opportunities to count in French.

Impact: Each learning journey has clearly defined end points for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Teachers assess pupils’ progress against these statements over the course of the year, keeping records of what pupils can do. Assessment criteria are tracked each term which builds a profile for each child. These records allow the teacher to revisit important content or further challenge the children. In addition, planning ensures that knowledge retrieval opportunities are ‘strategically’ placed throughout the sequence of learning. This gives opportunity to assess what has been taught and remembered by pupils in the sequence of learning and from previous terms.   

Curriculum Plans

Click the link below to download the curriculum progression and learning journey:

Progression in French

Year 1 French Learning Journey

Year 2 French Learning Journey

Year 3 French Learning Journey

Year 4 French Learning Journey

Year 5 French Learning Journey

Year 6 French Learning Journey