Intent:

Wadworth Primary School is committed to a high quality and sustainable programme of modern foreign language learning, using French as our language of choice. The learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, cultural and social experience for children. It is our intention that through a stimulating and engaging curriculum, children will develop a love of languages, as well as the communication and literacy skills needed for future language learning.

Learning another language raises awareness of the multi-cultural world and introduces an international dimension to children’s learning, offering them an insight into their own and others’ cultures. It is intended that when children leave Wadworth, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that, in a multi-lingual society it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language.

Our core values provide a platform on which we have built our curriculum offer at Wadworth Primary School. Our MFL curriculum is underpinned by our core values in the following ways:

·        Persevering

o   To develop the ability to stick with learning a new language, to continue working, to try harder, to not give up.

o   To understand that the perseverance and attentiveness needed to learn a new language, leads to personal pride and gratification, especially when they are then able to participate in a conversation in French.

·        Problem solving

o   To do their best work and then to push themselves further to develop language fluency

o   To develop a desire to learn a new language.

·        Independence

o   To develop confident learners who are not afraid to ‘have a go’ when learning French.

o   To develop learners who have the confidence to think independently and who will try to learn nee aspects of French, by giving it a go by themselves.

·        Being attentive (listening)

o   Acquire the skill of learning a new language through listening to others.

o   Develop vocabulary knowledge through listening to others.

·        Communicating

o   Construct sentences in French and converse with others.

o   Uses knowledge of the French language from the words they have learned.

·        Collaborating

o   Play games with others and use the taught language.

o   To support others with a skill you are confident in already.

Beyond the Subject:

We would like our MFL curriculum to help children to:

·        See the world from different perspectives

·        Observe and look closer at the world around them

·        See connections in the world

·        Immerse themselves in other cultures

Implementation:

Our MFL curriculum has been designed to ensure all pupils develop key language learning skills set out by the national curriculum, as well as a love of languages and learning about other cultures. Pupils develop linguistic competence, extend their knowledge of how language works and explore differences and similarities between the French and English languages through regularly taught lessons to all children in Key Stage 2, regardless of ability. In Key Stage 1 and EYFS, pupils are introduced to a number of different languages informally at the discretion of class teachers.

In Key Stage 2 we are currently using Twinkl planning units alongside other resources linked to the Curriculum Maestro scheme. This allows the children to acquire new vocabulary then use and apply it in a range of different scenarios and topics. Children are encouraged and supported to develop their speaking and listening skills through conversational work, singing activities and games. As their confidence and skills grow, children record their work through pictures, captions and sentences.

We use a number of strategies to support children’s learning such as:

• displays to remind children of key vocabulary
• practical activities, songs and games to help improve memory and recall
• giving instructions in French to expose children to the language as much as possible
• visual prompts such as word mats/ knowledge organisers to reinforce new vocabulary.

Impact:

Our French curriculum is high quality, well thought out, and is planned to demonstrate progression. French is monitored by the subject leader, using a variety of strategies such as book scrutinises, lesson observations, staff discussions and pupil interviews.

We also measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught
• summative assessment of pupils’ work.
• moderation staff meetings where pupil’s work is scrutinised
•  annual reporting of standards across the curriculum.