French 

Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

At Wincanton Primary School, the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for pupils – providing them with:

• Knowledge and skills in the French language
• Opportunities to communicate in the wider world
• Skills to continue language learning and use languages for study and work
• Enjoyment of language learning
• A new perspective on the world, promoting positive attitudes and respect towards diversity and culture

At Wincanton Primary School, children learn French.

The teaching of Modern Foreign Languages at Wincanton Primary School should be fully inclusive to every child, providing a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum at Wincanton Primary School follows the Rachel Hawkes Languages Schemes of Work which has been designed in line with the key recommendations from Ofsted research reviews.

We want our children to:

• Develop language and communication skills
• Understand how language is structured
• Explore similarities and differences between French, any heritage languages our children have, and English

Implementation

To ensure a high quality, progressive languages education, we implement a curriculum which includes opportunities to develop the essential knowledge strands (phonics, vocabulary and grammar) in listening, reading, speaking and writing.

• Phonics – sounds and the letters which represent them
• Vocabulary – a set of the most frequently used words
• Grammar – the essential building blocks required to create simple sentences independently (including gender of nouns, singular and plural forms, adjectives (place and agreement), and the conjugation of key verbs)

Key Stage 2

Our KS2 children have a weekly French lesson of 30 minutes. We continue this with 5-minute follow-up tasks three times a week, to practise retrieval and improve retention of knowledge and skills.

At Wincanton, we provide further opportunities to recap key vocabulary and develop children’s confidence. These are built into classroom routines, even just for a few minutes in the school day, e.g. when the children are lining up. This vocabulary includes greetings, numbers, providing instructions, stating lunch preferences, answering the register and giving praise. To foster independence, knowledge organisers with key vocabulary and grammar structures are available during the lesson for support.

Teachers make lessons enjoyable to encourage positive attitudes. They adapt resources to support active engagement and meet different learning needs for different children. Audio-enabled resources ensure that pronunciation is taught reliably and authentically.

In line with the National Curriculum, our Key Stage 2 children learn to:

• Listen and show understanding by joining in and responding
• Read and show understanding of sounds, words and spellings, phrases and simple texts
• Read aloud and speak in sentences
• Describe people, places, things in speech and writing
• Ask questions and express opinions
• Adapt phrases to create new sentences
• Use a dictionary
• Identify key cultural and country-specific knowledge

Assessment

Teachers build on children’s knowledge and skills by regularly reviewing the progress made. Teachers use questioning and children’s independent work to continually assess their knowledge in lessons. At the end of each termly unit, children complete knowledge and skills assessments in phonics, vocabulary and grammar which assess the specific knowledge they have been taught. This enables teachers to implement next steps.

EYFS and Key Stage 1

At EYFS and KS1, high-frequency words and phrases, including numbers and greetings, are progressively and discretely introduced and they are embedded into everyday routines and conversations. Opportunities for positive learning experiences of additional languages, through song, rhymes, poems and games, are encouraged. This enables learners from all backgrounds to share their cultural and linguistic heritage with their peers, provoking curiosity and interest in the wider world.

Impact

The Modern Foreign Language leader monitors the curriculum through learning walks, discussions with teaching staff and pupil interviews. Further development and training opportunities are identified.

Through high quality-first teaching of French taking place, our curriculum aims that all pupils develop

• A love of language learning
• Knowledge of French phonics, grammar and vocabulary and develop an ability communicate through listening, reading, speaking and writing
• Confidence to talk about their language knowledge and skills
• An awareness and understanding of the culture in France and French-speaking countries
• Respect for cultural differences and encourage children to be active, responsible and caring members of the community

Key Concepts

Wincanton Primary School have introduced key concepts which link to language lessons - English and French. 

The Words and Meaning concept promotes accuracy in spoken and written grammar, and allows the children to apply their grammatical knowledge across and within languages.

• To develop a broad vocabulary
• To use words in the correct context
• To apply grammar rules to aid meaning
• To use punctuation to support meaning

The Reading and Communication concept focusses on reading for understanding and enjoyment of stories and texts.

• To gather meaning from text
• To know that text gives information in context
• To predict and develop understanding of stories and genres

The Culture concept embeds positive attitudes and respect towards diversity and culture.

• To give meaning to the purpose of text
• To understand cultural differences
• To understand how culture impacts on others