Welcome To
Modern Foreign Languages (French)
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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 Chad’s children we underpin our language learning with four key concepts from Year 3 to Year 6. Children should be supported to…
Read Fluently: Recognising key vocabulary and phrases.
Write imaginatively: Use key vocabulary and phrases to write ideas.
Speak confidently: Using key vocabulary and phrases to verbally communicate ideas.
Understand the culture of the countries in which the language is spoken: Developing background knowledge and cultural capital needed to infer meaning from interactions.
Learning a language is a life-skill of which the underpinning values are tolerance and respect. Through our immersive approach to MFL, pupils gain a greater cultural understanding of others, have a deeper appreciation of how others see the world, and they can communicate with more people. Language learning improves brain function and memory.
Learning French can even help our English! Children improve their understanding of English as their native language, when comparing grammatical rules, syntax and morphology to an additional language.
French in our school is taught with enthusiasm. We believe that children who are engaged in the lessons and take responsibility for their learning will not only learn French well, but any language they choose to learn in the future.
In MFL we work to explore and develop children’s spirituality through exploring our relationship with ourselves and the wider world. As the children progress through our curriculum, they are encouraged to consider the bonds they hold with others as well as the hobbies and interests that make us all unique. By learning another language we deepen our relationship with the wider world around us.
What do our pupils think about MFL at St. Chad’s?.
‘I really like listening to and learning songs in French, I play them when I’m at home too!’
‘I enjoy learning things about another culture, we’ve talked about their history and music and food.’
‘I practice with Duolingo at home, it’s really fun challenging myself’
‘Learning French means I get to talk to more people, understand more jokes and make more friends’
‘My highlight of French Week was having the visitors in to talk to, talking to native speakers was fun!’
