All Saints' Whole School French Curriculum

French Curriculum Statement

Children at All Saints' are confident to communicate in French

Intent:

As with all subjects taught at All Saints', our school vision and school values are at the heart of our French curriculum.

At All Saints’ we believe that the learning of a language provides an invaluable cultural, educational and social experience for our pupils. It enables them to develop essential communication skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in another language. We are also laying the foundations for the children to develop their knowledge of how languages work which will support them when learning other languages in the future. We believe that by learning another language, children develop a broader perspective on the world which encourages them to better understand their own culture and other cultures of the world.

Our main emphasis is on building confidence so that children are not afraid to have a go at communicating in French. It is important that children progress through the skills required by the National Curriculum, not just learn basic vocabulary, it is an expectation that they should be reading and writing simple sentences by year 6.

Implementation for MFL:

Our MFL curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in languages through weekly lessons. Children develop their love of language learning and progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics and prepare for future language learning. Our progressive curriculum is designed with retrieval routines and games at the beginning or end of every lesson, enabling children to revisit learning in an engaging way. We also have seasonal lessons where children develop an appreciation for French culture through the telling of stories, singing of French songs and learning about how they celebrate festivals in France.

Our school follows the Rigolo scheme of work, adapted to meet the needs of our children. Details of the topics covered in each year group can be found in the Curriculum Coverage document below.

As all children learn at different speeds and have different learning styles, we try to make French lessons as active as possible with carefully chosen songs and activities supplementing the Rigolo scheme.

Impact of MFL:

Children record their learning in books with, when appropriate, written work in the front and a dictionary in the back which is built upon as they learn new vocabulary. Our French curriculum will ensure that all pupils in KS2 develop the key skills as set out in the national curriculum, as well as develop a love of languages and an appreciation and respect of other cultures. The national curriculum aims are that all pupils:

A breakdown of the attainment targets for each year group can be found here:

Year 3 - Record their performances and use of their own dictionary, focus on aiming to have a short dialogue in French with some opportunities to begin writing in French.

Year 4 – Write and use simple phrases and definitions.

Year 5 – Write, speak and use simple phrases and definitions in different contexts and use their own dictionaries.

Year 6 – Write, speak and use simple sentences, use their own dictionaries and be familiar with translation dictionaries.