At St Joseph’s, French is taught as our choice of Modern Foreign Language.  It is informally introduced in KS1 and then formally taught in Key Stage 2, in years 3-5. In Year 6, children are given the opportunity to learn Latin.

Our French Curriculum aims to:

• help children develop their awareness of cultural differences in other countries.
• develop their speaking and listening skills.
• speak with increasing confidence and fluency and to be continually improving their pronunciation.
• learn useful vocabulary that will assist in real life situations read and write another language.
• be aware that language structure can differ from one language to another.
• develop an enthusiasm for language that will lay the foundations for future study at Key Stage 3.

What our pupils will learn:

We use the Twinkl scheme of work for French to deliver the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages to Years 3, 4 and 5. (Key Stage 2).

The French scheme of work is fun and creative and engages children with themes such as food, clothing, my family and friends, my body, our school, transport and holidays.  Children begin by responding to spoken French and move on to reading and writing in French as they become more advanced. Children are also taught the basic geography of France, as well some of the cultural similarities and differences (school, Easter and Christmas).

How our pupils will be taught (implementation):

Pupils in Years 3 and 4 are taught French by their class teacher once a fortnight.  In Year 5, pupils are taught French each week.

The Twinkl scheme of work is designed with six strands that run throughout.

These are:

• 1. Speaking and pronunciation
• 2. Listening
• 3. Reading and writing
• 4. Grammar
• 5. Intercultural understanding
• 6. Language detective skills

Content is arranged in themed units of work.  Vocabulary and language skills are re-visited so that the children have opportunities to recall and build on prior learning.

Key Stage 2
Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Getting to Know You Greetings and Introductions	All Around Town Places in a town; numbers to 100; address	Pleased to meet you Jobs; alphabet and accents; describe emotions
All about me Classroom instructions; parts of the body; colours; clothes	On the Move Types of transport; asking for and giving directions	All about ourselves Describe ourselves and others; parts of the body and clothes; describe ailments
Food Types; ordering; stating preferences	Going Shopping Fruit & vegetables; clothes shops; money	That’s Tasty Food and drink (using adjectives); mealtimes; stating preferences
Family and Friends Family members; pets; home	Where in the world? Countries and capital cities in UK; Francophone countries	Family and Friends Describing family and home
Our School Naming and finding classroom objects	What is the time? O’clock and half past;  my day	School Life Prepositions; where things are
Time Days of the week ;  months of the year	Holidays and Hobbies Say what they like to do; say what they do on holidays	Time Travelling Numbers beyond 100

Progression and Assessment

Assessment is carried out informally during lessons in order to evaluate what the children have learned. The four key areas of assessment are listening and responding, speaking, reading and responding and written work and images.

The impact of our French scheme can be monitored continuously through assessment. Pupils should leave St Joseph’s with a range of language learning skills to enable them to study French, or any other language, with confidence at Key Stage 3.