At Walford Nursery & Primary School, we believe that children should develop communication and literacy skills that lay the foundation for future learning of languages.  Pupils develop linguistic competence, extend their knowledge of how language works and explore differences and similarities between a foreign language and English.  Learning another language raises awareness of the multilingual and multicultural world around us.  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.  At Walford Nursery & Primary School, children will acquire some knowledge and understanding of the different languages and cultures in the world today. 

“Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures.”  (Department for Education, 2013)

As part of the National Curriculum, all Key Stage 2 pupils must learn another language during school time. At Walford Nursery & Primary School, we have chosen to teach French to all children within KS2. The learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our children. It also provides a new perspective on their world, encouraging them to understand and appreciate their own cultures and those of others. Above all, the learning of another language is fun; it can be enjoyed and accessed by all children.

INTENT

At Walford Nursery & Primary School, pupils will:

• foster an interest in learning other languages;
• be introduced to another language in a way that is enjoyable and fun;
• develop awareness of cultural similarities and differences in different countries;
• develop their speaking and listening skills;
• develop awareness of sentence structure and grammar;
• acquire the foundations for future study;
• familiarise themselves with the sounds and written form of a modern foreign language; 
• develop particular language-learning skills; 
• begin to understand a new language, and communicate in it; 
• make comparisons between languages; 
• learn about different countries and their people, and work with materials from different countries and communities, thus increasing their awareness of other cultures; 
• develop a positive attitude towards the learning of foreign languages in general; 
• use their knowledge of the foreign language with growing confidence, both to understand what they hear and read, and to express themselves in speech and writing; 
• acquire, through all of the above, a sound basis for further study at Key Stage 3 and beyond. 

IMPLEMENTATION

What does our French Curriculum look like?

Please refer to:

• our Progression document, which demonstrates the progression of knowledge and skills within the whole school French offer;
• our Curriculum Map, which details each year group / subject.

IMPACT

Our French curriculum facilitates sequential learning and long term progression of knowledge and skills.  Teaching and learning methods provide regular opportunities to recap acquired knowledge through high quality questioning, discussion, modelling and explaining to aid retrieval at the beginning and end of a lesson or unit.  This will enable all children to alter their long-term memory, know more, remember more and be able to do more as linguists.