Curriculum

Intent Statement for MFL

 
The subject leader for French is Mrs Louise Wallen.

They can be contacted by emailing admin@northstainley.n-yorks.sch.uk using the subject title FAO of Mrs Lousie Wallen.

With oversight and support from our Senior Leadership team subject leaders oversee and monitor the intent, implementation and impact of their subject.

French Rationale 

National Curriculum Aims for Foreign Language

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic

• sources

• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of

• communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking

• questions, and continually improving 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

• discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

 
National Curriculum Purpose for Foreign Language
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
 
Primary Foreign language helps children to:

• build foundations for future study of a language.

• develop an understanding of how a language is structured grammatically.

• Gain a widen vocabulary of everyday words and phrases in French.

• Develop a knowledge and respect of a different culture to their own.

The rationale for choosing to teach French as our modern foreign language was:

• Most primaries were already or were planning to teach French (therefore meaning most children would be starting KS3 with a similar level of knowledge).

• North Yorkshire were producing a scheme and resources to support the teaching of French at KS2. (This was an important consideration especially for small schools where the likelihood of a specialist linguist was less than that in a larger school).

• Children in KS3 at all our local transition secondary school study French.

Children are able to gain knowledge of how language works and can explore the similarities and differences between their own language and another. It raises their awareness of the multicultural world that we live in and give them in an insight into a culture that is different to their own.
Our foreign language curriculum also has strong links to the development of British Values within the children of our school. It develops tolerance and respect of a culture and beliefs that are different to their own. The children will also be given opportunity to explore what it means to be a global citizen and widen their view of the world beyond their immediate locality.
 
The study of a foreign language involves an educational, social and cultural learning experience for all children. The study of a French at our school provides the foundations and develops the skills required to continue learning a foreign language through the rest of their school career. As the forms and means of communicating worldwide continue to develop and improve, the skill of being able to speak another language will also prove to be an advantage in many future employment opportunities.
 
Teaching and Learning of French:
Children will be given opportunity to develop their enquiry skills when studying French. The understanding of Etymology involved in language can significantly develop understanding of both the French and English language. Through using researching skills to enquire about the culture of France, they will have opportunity to compare to their own culture. They will also be able to make links about reasons behind some differences. Through studying the basic grammar underpinning the French language, children will be able to apply this to new knowledge found independently.
Learning always starts with the children’s prior knowledge and any misconceptions they may have. Class teachers decide upon the most appropriate age related way of obtaining the children’s prior knowledge. Units of work are then personalised to the children.
Misconceptions that arise throughout the unit are identified and addressed straight away by the teacher. This is particularly important when teaching the pronunciation of phonemes that differ to the English language.
Recall is practised across our curriculum and this fidelity is also practised in the learning of French, weekly recall tasks ensure that the knowledge of the language is embedded and mastered.

Implementation

Long Term Overview - French

Impact