Goffs Oak Primary and Nursery School

French Policy

Introduction

In our school we teach French to all children from years 3 to 6 as part of the school curriculum. We believe that many children really enjoy learning to speak another language. We also think that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language is acquired. We feel that it is a good idea to introduce a new language to children when they are at primary school, as they tend to be less self conscious about speaking aloud at this stage of their development. The early acquisition of a foreign language facilitates the learning of other foreign languages later in life.

Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives of learning a modern foreign language at Goffs Oak Primaryand Nursery School are:

to foster an interest in learning other languages;

to introduce young children to another language in a way that is enjoyable

and fun;

to make young children aware that language has structure, and that the

structure differs from one language to another;

to help children develop their awareness of cultural differences in other

countries;

to develop their speaking and listening skills;

to lay the foundations for future study.

Organisation

French is taught to children in Key Stage 2 for an hour a week. This provision comprises of 40 minutes discrete teaching and an additional 20 minutes of language exposure embedded into the week.

French lessons are taught either by the class teacher or HLTA’s working in Key Stage 2.

The Curriculum

French is the modern foreign language that we teach in our school. The curriculum that we follow is based on the guidance outlined in the National Curriculum published in September 2013. We follow a scheme of work from La Jolie Ronde to guide teaching and ensure that the age appropriate objectives are taught across Key Stage 2.

Lower Key Stage 2

  • Listen & engage
  • Ask & answer questions
  • Speak in sentences using familiar vocabulary
  • Develop appropriate pronunciation
  • Show understanding of words & phrases
  • Appreciate stories, songs, poems & rhymes
  • Broaden vocabulary

Upper Key Stage 2

  • Listen & engage
  • Engage in conversations, expressing opinions
  • Speak in simple language & be understood
  • Develop appropriate pronunciation
  • Present ideas & information orally
  • Show understanding in simple reading
  • Adapt known language to create new ideas
  • Describe people, places & things
  • Understand basic grammar, e.g. gender

Teaching and Learning Style

Teaching follows the guidance material in La Jolie Ronde scheme of work forFrench. This topic based sequence of lessons is adapted based on the resources available, the context of our school and the abilities of our children.

We use a variety of teaching styles to encourage the children to actively engage in French lessons. The focus is on speaking and listening skills, therefore activities include games, roleplay and songs, particularly action songs. To ensure that teaching is engaging and captures the interest of the children, a multisensoryand kinaesthetic approach to teaching is adopted. For instance, we try to introduce a physical element into some of the games and songs, aswe believe that this serves to reinforce memory. We make the lessons asdiverse and enjoyable as possible because we realise that this approach servesto develop a positive attitude in the children to the learning of a modern foreign language. We build children’s confidence through praise and encouragement, so that they feel able to contribute and participate within an environment that values every child.

Special Educational Needs

At our school we teach French to all children, whatever their ability. French forms part of the school curriculum policy toprovide a broad and balanced education to all children. Through our teaching we provide learning opportunities that enable allpupils to make progress. We do this by setting suitable learning challenges andresponding to each child’s different needs. Our teaching looks at a range of factors, including classroom organisation, teaching materials, teaching style and differentiation, sothat we can take some additional or different action to enable the child to learnmore effectively. This ensures that our teaching is matched to the child’s needs.

Assessment

During the children’s early stages of learning a different language, we feel that the assessment focus should be on progress of speaking and listening skills. We assess the children in order to ensure that they make good progress in this subject informally during the lessons and through completing the foundation subject profile in July. Teachers outline objectives taught and then highlight to indicate the levels of the majority of the class. The names of the children who achieve above and below these levels are recorded. This information is passed to the subject leader and onto the next teacher at the end of the year to inform planning. In addition a language portfolio is used to highlight the children’s progress in speaking and listening and conversation skills. This is also passed up with the cohort of children through Key Stage 2. Finally, we report annually to parents about each child’s achievements and experiences and what is required for them to make further improvements.

Resources

The topic based resources are stored in Year 3 to be accessed as needed. These include La Jolie Ronde materials, story books, ICT resources, song books and CD, flashcards and teaching ideas books etc. The budget allocated to French is the responsibility of the subject leader. Purchases are made in response to the action plan, the specific requirements of teachers and to update and replace existing resources.

Date: April 2014

Review Date: June 2016