At Redhill Primary Academy, our curriculum has been designed to allow pupils to develop a secure knowledge of French language, an understanding of the culture and strategies to support them in learning a modern foreign language. The learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for pupils. They develop communication and literacy skills that lay the foundation for future language learning. They develop linguistic competence, extend their knowledge of how language works and explore differences and similarities between the language learnt (French) and English. Learning another language raises awareness of the multilingual and multicultural world and introduces an international dimension to pupils' learning, giving them an insight into their own culture and those of others. 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. It is our intention to use speaking, listening, reading and writing as vehicles to develop the 3 pillars of progression: phonics, vocabulary and grammar. Over time, children are expected to apply those values which we recognise in school as essential to developing good learners: independence, resilience, empathy, respect and collaboration. It is intended that when children leave Redhill Primary Academy, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that in a multi-lingual society, it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language. They will be engaged and prepared to continue language learning at Secondary School.
As our children move through Key Stage 2, they will be taught French as their modern foreign language offer. In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, French is taught incidentally through counting dinner numbers, taking the register and displaying the date in classrooms. In line with Framework guidelines, all pupils learn languages for no less than 30 minutes per week. This time allocation is made up of a combination of dedicated language lessons, teaching language through other subject areas and using language for real purposes in daily classroom routines.Our school follows the Primary Languages Network scheme of work. It is a live scheme which is continually updated and revised in order to meet with current curriculum standards. For each year group, it outlines the content of each block: the vocabulary, the new phonic sounds and the grammatical rules/teaching points. Alongside the planning outline which is provided, the network also enriches this through accompanying PowerPoints, podcasts (spoken by native speakers), links to authentic literature, songs, games, culture points of reference and links to appropriate websites. The blocks are sequenced to ensure that key areas are built on each year, with opportunities for revision of previous learning. This is consolidated by our use of retrieval activities at the beginning of each lesson. This ensures that the children know more and remember more over time. In each block, new vocabulary is introduced in context and opportunities are provided to review and revisit this language in different ways. There are target grammar focuses and phonetical sounds built in over the sessions. New structures are specifically taught and then practised over time to ensure the children know more and remember more as they progress through school. Children have opportunities in each unit to practise speaking, listening, reading and writing skills and to learn more about the French culture. They create their own vocabulary banks for each block, focusing on the new vocabulary they have learnt and need to remember. They are able to refer to these in the block and throughout the remainder of the year to support their retrieval. Mini assessments are planned and carried out at the end of each block, assessing the children’s ability in speaking , listening, reading and writing. This allows teachers to consider what learning has been effective and areas to be revisited.In addition, there are opportunities for the learning of additional languages in our celebration of European Languages Day in September and through our extra-curricular clubs in French, German and Spanish. These are run at intervals over the year.
To view our subject overview for French, please click here.To view our Primary languages French policy, please click here.