Intent
At St Mary's we want our children to be develop an interest and thirst for learning other languages, which will allow them to become global citizens. We aim to introduce the learning of the French language and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. Our Modern Foreign Language is taught across Year 3-6 (KS2) where the objectives are based on the National Curriculum to meet the needs of the children and to enable cross curricular learning as and when it is appropriate. Our children should leave us equipped with a strong foundation for further language learning, confident to be able to communicate with others in another language.
At St Mary's we want our children to be develop an interest and thirst for learning other languages, which will allow them to become global citizens. We aim to introduce the learning of the French language and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. Our Modern Foreign Language is taught across Year 3-6 (KS2) where the objectives are based on the National Curriculum to meet the needs of the children and to enable cross curricular learning as and when it is appropriate. Our children should leave us equipped with a strong foundation for further language learning, confident to be able to communicate with others in another language.
St Mary’s uses the national curriculum for French which has the following aims;
When choosing to teach French at St Mary's we carefully considered our cohort and identified that teaching this community language would provide the opportunity to allow some of our EAL speakers to be experts in the classroom whilst providing all children opportunities to:
Implementation
In 2024/2025 we will be relaunching our Foreign Modern Language scheme of work. We will begin with adjectival vocabulary, such as colours and build understanding of grammar and vocabulary incrementally over time. This teaching strategy builds on small foundations of language which can be used to greater effect in longer pieces of writing. There is a strong sense of repetition within lessons, enabling the less confident leaners ample opportunity to listen to spoken language with lots whole class and individual responses. Native speaker resources are also used to ensure developing accurate pronunciation and intonation. Children have the opportunity to read the language in every lesson as all of the video resources have captions. Early reading strategies, such as looking for a familiar root word, using picture cues etc are employed to support the children to begin to decode and understand familiar and unfamiliar words.
We chose French as our modern foreign language as it offers numerous benefits that can enhance our children's educational experiences. As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and an official language of many international organizations, French opens doors to diverse cultural and professional opportunities. Early exposure to French helps develop cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, while also fostering a greater appreciation for different cultures. Additionally, learning a Romance language like French can ease the transition to other languages, such as Spanish or Italian, in the future. By integrating French into our curriculum, we can cultivate global citizens who are not only linguistically proficient but also culturally aware and open-minded.
There will be a steady focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening within each lesson across all years, with speaking and writing both being taught and applied in the first years of language, where writing is often underdeveloped. Writing is progressive with labels and short closed procedures in Y3 developing into less structured sentence construction in the latter years.
By the end of Y6, most children will be able to write independently, using vocabulary from the previous years. They will be familiar with a range of contexts in France, i.e. shops, meeting people. As part of our commitment to share and support other cultures around the world, we are a committed member of the BEFSA charity organisation, supporting staff from St Marys and from South Africa to visit and develop teaching across schools. Children have the opportunity to meet teachers from different cultures and experience their different language.
Due to the linguistic diversity of the pupils and families within the St Marys’ community, many children are already experts in dual languages. To deepen and embed our children’s broad understanding of the world, we aim to utilise their linguistic skills through encouraging parents into classrooms to share their home languages with all students.
When choosing to teach French at St Mary's we carefully considered our cohort and identified that teaching this community language would provide the opportunity to allow some of our EAL speakers to be experts in the classroom whilst providing all children opportunities to:
- Speak with accurate intonation and pronunciation.
- Develop fluency in reading.
- Develop fluency and imagination in writing.
- Have an awareness of the culture of the countries where the language is spoken.
- Have a passion for languages and a commitment to the subject.
- Have the ability to use language creatively and spontaneously.
- Be independent in their studies and the ability to draw upon a wide range of resources.
Implementation
In 2024/2025 we will be relaunching our Foreign Modern Language scheme of work. We will begin with adjectival vocabulary, such as colours and build understanding of grammar and vocabulary incrementally over time. This teaching strategy builds on small foundations of language which can be used to greater effect in longer pieces of writing. There is a strong sense of repetition within lessons, enabling the less confident leaners ample opportunity to listen to spoken language with lots whole class and individual responses. Native speaker resources are also used to ensure developing accurate pronunciation and intonation. Children have the opportunity to read the language in every lesson as all of the video resources have captions. Early reading strategies, such as looking for a familiar root word, using picture cues etc are employed to support the children to begin to decode and understand familiar and unfamiliar words.
We chose French as our modern foreign language as it offers numerous benefits that can enhance our children's educational experiences. As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and an official language of many international organizations, French opens doors to diverse cultural and professional opportunities. Early exposure to French helps develop cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, while also fostering a greater appreciation for different cultures. Additionally, learning a Romance language like French can ease the transition to other languages, such as Spanish or Italian, in the future. By integrating French into our curriculum, we can cultivate global citizens who are not only linguistically proficient but also culturally aware and open-minded.
There will be a steady focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening within each lesson across all years, with speaking and writing both being taught and applied in the first years of language, where writing is often underdeveloped. Writing is progressive with labels and short closed procedures in Y3 developing into less structured sentence construction in the latter years.
By the end of Y6, most children will be able to write independently, using vocabulary from the previous years. They will be familiar with a range of contexts in France, i.e. shops, meeting people. As part of our commitment to share and support other cultures around the world, we are a committed member of the BEFSA charity organisation, supporting staff from St Marys and from South Africa to visit and develop teaching across schools. Children have the opportunity to meet teachers from different cultures and experience their different language.
Due to the linguistic diversity of the pupils and families within the St Marys’ community, many children are already experts in dual languages. To deepen and embed our children’s broad understanding of the world, we aim to utilise their linguistic skills through encouraging parents into classrooms to share their home languages with all students.
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St. Mary's Church of England (VC) Primary School Southam Road Banbury OX16 2EG
Headteacher: Victoria Woods
Tel/Fax: 01295 263026 Email [email protected]
Headteacher: Victoria Woods
Tel/Fax: 01295 263026 Email [email protected]