Curriculum Statement
St Thomas More First School believes that the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for the pupils. Pupils develop communication and literacy skills that lay the foundation for future language learning. They develop linguistic competence, extend their knowledge of how language works and explore differences and similarities between the foreign language and English.
Learning another language raises awareness of the multi-lingual and multi-cultural world and introduces an international dimension to pupils’ learning, giving them an insight into their own culture and those of others. The learning of a foreign language provides a medium for cross-curricular links and for reinforcement of knowledge, skills and understanding developed in other subjects.
Intent
The Department for Education (DfE) published statutory guidance on the National Curriculum in England for Key Stage (KS) 1 to KS4. It states that languages are not a compulsory subject in schools at KS1. The National Curriculum document states that foreign languages are a compulsory subject at KS2.
Teaching may be of any modern or ancient foreign language and should "lay the foundations" for foreign language learning at KS3.
The National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages aims to ensure that all children:
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.
At St Thomas More First School all KS2 children have the opportunity to learn French in a fun and interactive way. Repetition and practice are essential in learning a new language so songs and games will be regularly used. We will have discrete lessons on the timetable but we will also integrate foreign languages into the everyday routine.
Implementation
In KS2, each class has a timetabled French lesson of 30 minutes per week. Lessons across the
Key Stage support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing:
Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games.
Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in French that are delivered through the curriculum content.
We follow the planning and guidance of Rachel Hawkes as agreed across the Our Lady of the Magnificat MAC. These are available online as well as in school.
Impact
Through an agreed programme of study and collaborative work with MAC MFL Lead, our French curriculum ensures that pupils are ready for the next stage in their learning as they progress to middle school.
Teaching and Learning
EYFS and KS1
Although not statutory at this stage, pupils in KS1 are introduced to other languages. Greetings, registers, classroom routines and praise words are regularly conducted in another language.
KS2
We use a variety of techniques to encourage the children to have an active engagement in the modern foreign language: these include games, role-play and action songs. We emphasise listening, responding, speaking and simple writing skills in Years 3 and 4.