Curriculum – Foreign Languages

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MFL
Policy

The National Curriculum and Statutory Requirements

In Key Stage 2, it is statutory that children learn either a modern or ancient foreign language. This should be one language throughout to enable pupils to make substantial progress. At Hawkhurst CEP School children learn French from Year 3 to Year 6.

Aims

As a maintained school, our languages curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and reflects the statutory requirements therein. By the end of Key Stage 2, all children should:

  • Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
  • Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
  • Engage in conversations; aske and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
  • Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
  • Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
  • Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
  • Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
  • Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
  • Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
  • Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
  • Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing

At Hawkhurst CEP School we want to provide our children with broad educational opportunities and prepare them well for secondary education and so, beginning in Year 3, we teach French throughout Key Stage 2. In doing so we aim to build a secure foundation for pupils’ future language learning and develop an understanding of how language works, including the similarities and differences between French and English. We also endeavour to enhance pupils’ appreciation of the multilingual and multicultural world in which we live and develop their understanding of other cultures.

Teaching and Learning

At Hawkhurst CEP School, French lessons take place weekly in Year 3, 4, 5 and 6. Children will begin by learning some simple nouns, adjectives and songs and rhymes in French before building on this to develop an understanding of verb conjugation and being able to conduct short conversations in French.

Each term, classes will make links between what they are learning in French and the school value that the whole school is focussing on. Through this, children will develop a sense of the role that our school values play in both our curriculum and the whole school community, including our special place in the community of St Laurence Church.

We are committed to ensuring all children in our school have equal opportunities to access learning and lessons are planned and taught in line with our SEN and inclusion policies.

Recording and Assessment

At Hawkhurst CEP School, children’s learning in French lessons will almost always be practical. Any written work will be recorded in their French folder and speaking and listening activities may be recorded digitally for assessment purposes.

Teachers will assess children’s work regularly and this will be through observation and feedback given orally during lessons. Children’s progress will be checked against the skills progression documents for each year group.

Monitoring and Evaluating

The quality of education in French will be monitored by SLT and the Modern Foreign Languages subject leader. The subject leader will carry our regular learning walks (each seasonal term) and will monitor progress throughout the school by checking the quality of learning opportunities and the standard of outcomes through observation and pupil conferencing.

The subject leader will be responsible for managing the MFL budget and ensuring classes have sufficient resources to deliver high-quality French lessons across the year.

Skills Progression

KS2
Pupils should be taught to:

  • Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
  • Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
  • Engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
  • Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
  • Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
  • Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
  • Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
  • Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
  • Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
  • Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
  • Describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing
  • Understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

The starred (*) content above will not be applicable to ancient languages.

 

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Listen and respond to familiar spoken words and phrases.

  • Identify specific words when listening to songs, poems and simple stories.
  • Recognise numbers 1-20 in French.
  • Understand and respond to simple classroom instructions e.g. hands up, show me, close your eyes, listen carefully.
  • To know their own birthday in French.
 Listen for specific phonemes, words and phrases.

  • Identify phonemes, words and phrases in songs, stories and rhymes.
  • Understand higher numbers including multiples of 10 and apply this to prices, dates and telling the time.
  • Listen and respond to simple sentences and questions.
  • Respond to a wider range of classroom instructions.
 Listen attentively and understand more complect phrases and sentences.

  • Identify key points in a new context which contains familiar language e.g. a story.
  • Understand higher numbers.
  • Follow instructions and directions.
  • Recognise letters of the alphabet when heard.
 Understand the main points and simple opinions in spoken sources.

  • Listen to longer texts, including texts read by people other than the class teacher.Understand longer and more complex phrases or sentences e.g. descriptions, information, instructions.
  • Understand numbers in the context of the year, the 24 hour clock and quantities.

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Communicate with others using simple words, phrases and short sentences.

  • Use simple greetings e.g. bonjour, au revoir, ça va?, ça va ____ , merci.
  • Ask and answer simple questions about themselves e.g. Comment t’appelle tu? Quelle âge as-tu?
  • Express simple likes and dislikes e.g. food and drink.

Explore the patterns and sounds of language to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation.

 

 Communicate by asking and answering a wider range of questions and presenting short pieces of information.

  • Use a wider range of familiar nouns and adjectives to talk about themselves, animals and story characters.
  • Ask and answer a wider range of questions e.g. about the time, date, food, hobbies etc.
  • Express preferences about what they like e.g. food, drink, animals, colours.

Explore the patterns and sounds of language to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation.

 

 Take part in short conversations using familiar structures and vocabulary.

  • Take part in conversations expressing likes/dislikes.

Use simple conjunctions to build more complex sentences and present information to others.

  • Give instructions and directions.

Understand and express more complex opinions.

  • Seek help and clarification in French.
  • Understand and express future intentions.

Explore the patterns and sounds of language to hep develop accurate pronunciation and intonation.

 Use spoken language to initiate and sustain simple conversations on familiar topics and to describe incidents or tell stories from their own experience.

  • Understand and use numbers in context.
  • Understand and use transactional language.
  • Give a description or a person or place.
  • Seek clarification of meaning.
  • Express and justify opinions.

Understand and begin to use the past tense to describe events and the present tense to an audience e.g. through a presentation or role play.

  • Talk about the past in simple terms.

 

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Recognise and understand some familiar written words and phrases and show an awareness of grapheme-phoneme correspondence in French.

  • Read and understand familiar nouns, verbs and adjectives.
  • Read aloud familiar words and phrases from stories, songs and rhymes with reasonable accuracy.
Read and understand familiar written words, phrases and short texts. Develop confidence in reading a wider range of words, phrases and sentences aloud and apply phonic knowledge to support reading and pronunciation.

  • Understand the key points in simple texts.
  • Use strategies to work out the meaning of new words.
 Read a variety of short simple texts in different formats and in different contexts.

  • Practise reading a poem for performance.
  • Read a variety of short simple texts of different genres and text types that contain both familiar and new vocabulary.

Focus on the correct pronunciation and intonation and gesture to convey meaning when reading aloud.

 

 Read aloud from a text with good expression.

  • Read simple play scripts, poems, their own work or simple stories in groups.

Read and understand the main points and some detail from a short, written passage.

 

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Write some familiar simple words using a model and some from memory.

  • Write one or two simple sentences using a model.
  • Label a picture using simple phrases.
  • Complete simple gapped texts.
 Write a short text using a model, a few simple sentences from memory and apply phonic knowledge to support writing.

  • Write a few simple sentences.
  • Experiment with writing new words.
 Write simple sentences and short texts using a model.

  • Write three or four sentences using a word bank linked to a recent area of learning
  • Use simple conjunctions to form more complex sentences.
  • Change elements in a given text.

Use a dictionary to check the spelling of words.

 

 Write sentences and construct short texts using a model. Write a few sentences from memory, using knowledge of French words, text and structure.

  • Use adjectives to add interest and detail.
  • Use simple adverbs to add interest.
  • Understand how to use the past tense in simple ways.

Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Understand some basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied e.g. gender (masculine/feminine), nouns, word order of adjectives, how to form the negative.

 

 Understand some basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied e.g. gender (masculine/feminine), nouns, word order of adjectives, pronouns, verbs and how to form the negative.

 

 Understand some basic French grammar.

  • Gender (masculine/feminine)
  • Conjugation of present tense verbs
  • Future tense verbs
  • Possessive articles
 Understand some basic French grammar.

  • Verbs including past, future and present.
  • Adverbs
  • Nouns
  • Adjectives

Be able to identify tenses from a selection of sentences.

 
Enrichment Activities
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