Intent

Intent - Knowledge

What do we want children to know in French by the time they leave?

Children will cover all the National Curriculum requirements for learning a modern foreign language

• To understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources

• To speak with increasing fluency and confidence, finding ways of what they want to say, through questioning and discussion, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation

• To varying lengths, for differing purposes and audiences, using a variety of grammatical structures

• To develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the French language

 

Intent - Skills   

What do we want pupils to be able to do in French by the time they leave?

Children should be able to listen, respond to and join in with spoken language. They will engage in conversations, speaking in sentences  of varying lengths using familiar language, sentence structures and phrases. They will develop accurate pronunciation and intonation and present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences. Children will broaden their vocabulary and increase their understanding of new words, including through use of a dictionary. In writing, they will write phrases from memory and adapt these to create sentences, including being able to describe people, places and things. Children will develop a basic understanding of grammar, including feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs, and how to apply these to build sentences. They will appreciate how these differ from or are similar to the English language.

 

Intent - Values

What values have guided our decisions about the French curriculum?

As with any subject at BCS, our French curriculum will underpin Christian Values. We aim for children to be confident & happy in learning French. They should be independent learners where appropriate and be resilient, with enough confidence to 'have a go' even when they might not be 100% accurate!

In French we do this through:

• Understanding the importance of precise language usage in speech and writing in order to communicate effectively in another language

• Being ambitious: recognising that writing and speaking well in a foreign language is not easy, but that the challenge of self-improvement should be embraced 

• Valuing independent thought and creativity

• Cultivating a love of language learning as a means of self improvement and relaxation

 

Intent - Context

How does the French curriculum reflect our school’s context?

We have high expectations of our children in all aspects of the curriculum, including French, which is designed to be engaging whilst challenging. French teaching in this school should provide a firm basis for children to go on and develop their skills at secondary level.

 

Intent - Sequence & structure

How does the curriculum plan set out the sequence and structure of how we’ll teach the knowledge and skills?

The French curriculum is set into units. One unit has been assigned per year group, per half term, with an aim to link cross-curricular knowledge of what is being currently taught in other subjects. Within each unit, children listen and respond to French language; developing their skills to be able to ask and answer questions and conduct a French conversation. Writing and speaking is sequenced throughout year groups so that children can develop from simple basic sentences or phrases, to more complex, grammatically accurate sentences with masculine/feminine and singular/plural agreement.