Languages
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT NEWKER PRIMARY SCHOOL
Intent
At Newker Primary School we believe that learning languages in an essential skill which will help pupils to become global citizens. We introduce the learning of the French language and understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways whilst embedding the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. Our French curriculum endeavours to increase children’s ‘cultural capital’ so that they are aware of similarities and differences between people from different cultures. We have established links with our main feeder secondary school where French is the main language taught.
Subject Implementation
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.
We have adopted the Language Angels scheme to ensure that staff have the tools they need to deliver lessons effectively. Children in years 3-5 have a French lesson each week. In Year 6, the delivery of French lessons is more flexible with more content being covered in the Summer term.
Phonics
To be able to read, write and speak effectively we need to recognise and understand the phonemes and graphemes of a language. We learn to read and write in English using the Read, Write, Inc phonics scheme in Early Years and Key Stage One.
When we learn another language, such as French, it is equally as important to learn the new phonemes and graphemes of that language. For example, in French the grapheme ‘r’ has a rolled ‘r’ sound. We follow the phonics programme from Language Angels to support pupils with accurate pronunciation of sounds.
Vocabulary
Pupils need to know a range of common vocabulary to be able to communicate effectively. Pupils are encouraged to describe people, places and things and to ask and answer simple questions. Vocabulary, such as key verbs, size, colours and numbers is revisited throughout KS2 in different contexts to support memory and recall.
Grammar
Pupils are taught to understand and use basic grammatical structures including feminine and masculine forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs. Children learn key features and patterns of the language and how to apply these. For instance, they learn that the position of the adjective in French is usually different to that of English (after the noun) and different ways to structure questions. They learn that some words that are capitalised in English are not capitalised in French such as days and months. The level and complexity of the language that children are expected to produce increases as their knowledge develops.
The 3 core pillars of learning are embedded and taught across key stage two, with different theme covered in each year group:
SEND
Newker Primary School promotes a curriculum that puts all pupils, regardless of their needs, at the heart of what we do. By building mutual respect, we accept others for their differences believing that everyone is special and everyone has something to offer. Our inclusive and enriching curriculum, written for all children, provides pupils with meaningful and aspirational experiences as well as promoting personal growth for life-long learning. When the curriculum needs adapting, to suit the needs of individual children, appropriate modifications are made by the class teacher with support of the SENDCo and the Curriculum Subject Lead. Peer support is also used to ensure that all children can access lessons.
ENRICHMENT
We are committed to the development of children’s ‘cultural capital’ supporting their understanding and respect for people from different cultures and faiths. Part of this development is our annual French Day where children from Nursery to Year 6 can engage in a wide range of activities designed to promote their understanding, enjoyment and respect for the French language and culture. This event is held close to Bastille Day which is the national day of France.
USEFUL RESOURCES
Your child can access games and activities on Language Angels at home using the following link. You will need your child’s username and password.
Duolingo is a fantastic free mobile app which can be downloaded in the app store. Children can complete daily challenges in a range of languages.
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| Language angels letter for website.pdf | Download |
