French

At St John’s CE Primary School, we believe learning a language enriches the curriculum. It provides excitement, enjoyment and challenge for children and teachers, helping to create enthusiastic learners and to develop positive attitudes to language learning throughout life.

Key Stage 1

French learning begins in Year 1 at St John’s CE Primary School. Children can choose to attend a variety of French Clubs. At these clubs, the children are introduced to basic words and phrases through songs and games.

Key Stage 2

Language learning supports literacy as children’s French learning focuses on the four key skills of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. They take part in role-plays, conversations and question and answer work, sing songs, recite, perform to an audience and respond to a wide range of aural and written stimuli. Writing activities are introduced in Year 3 and increase in subsequent years as skills are developed.

Summary of Aims of the Key Stage 2 French Curriculum

The curriculum at KS2 is based around developing the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in the French language.

• Children understand and respond to spoken and written language
• Children speak French with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, including giving opinions.
• Children speak with accurate pronunciation and intonation.
• Children understand key grammatical structures, patterns and rules of the language
• Children appreciate and respond to a range of writing.

Language learning supports and celebrates the diversity in our world. English is a widely spoken, world language; this makes it even more important that we give all children the chance to learn a new language in order to gain insights into their own lives and those of others around the world. They need the chance to learn about other cultures and to reflect upon their own cultural identities and those of other people.