Brookvale Primary School

Intent

At Brookvale we are committed to ensuring that every child develops an understanding and a love of language learning. Our aim when teaching French is to foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. We believe that the teaching of French should enable the children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language. The children should be able to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. We aim to capture children’s enjoyment of learning to speak, write, listen, and understand another language. Language teaching at Brookvale provides the foundation for learning further languages, as well as equipping them with the skills required to study and work in another country later in life.

Implementation

Children in Key Stage 2 at Brookvale Primary School receive a minimum of 30 minutes language learning per week. We are premium members of the Primary Languages Network, which sets out the objectives and activities for all year groups in Key Stage 2. All staff have log in details, so the teaching resources are accessible to all. French lessons are delivered using the video to teach scheme of work, which creatively supports the teaching and learning of MFL. The long-term plan is set out on the Primary Languages Network VLE, which provides opportunities for the children to constantly build and draw upon prior knowledge. Through frequently reviewing existing knowledge, children’s fluency and ability to speak confidently in French, will continue to develop greatly. The children take part in stimulating activities, which are entertaining and enjoyable. These include games, songs and rhymes, which will help to develop a positive attitude towards language learning. Pupils in KS2 practise their speaking and listening skills in French in every lesson. They will also develop their reading and writing skills in many French lessons. Children’s language learning is assessed in every lesson by the class teacher. The effectiveness of all teaching is assessed by the subject leader every term, through gathering evidence from books, displays and pupil questionnaires. The subject leader also looks for evidence of progression throughout KS2. French at Brookvale is taught inclusively, so meets the needs of all pupils in the school through differentiation and a variety of approaches. Classes are mixed year groups for Year 3/4 and Year 4/5 so languages in these classes are taught on a two-year rolling programme.

Impact

All our children arrive with different starting points and all children will achieve their very best possible. They will make progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and be able to communicate in a wide variety of ways. We measure the impact of our languages curriculum by observing the children speaking, listening, reading and writing in another language. Class teachers also mark written work in books to check their progress and understanding of the vocabulary and grammar that ha been taught. The children in KS2 will be able to apply the skills they have been taught to a variety of different situations, showing independence with their learning. The teaching and learning of French gives all children the opportunity to develop an interest in another language and helps to raise their awareness of its culture.