French

How do we teach Modern Foreign Languages at Albrighton Primary School & Nursery?

Intent

At Albrighton, we want children to have an appreciation of the culture of other countries, and an enthusiasm for learning languages so they are prepared for language learning at Secondary School and aware of the opportunities that speaking languages can bring. We believe that quality language learning with a clear focus on knowledge of grammatical structures will build confidence of English grammar as well as French. In addition, children will be presented with a variety of written and spoken French including traditional tales, songs and poetry which will allow them to make comparisons with English versions. Learning French gives children the opportunity to make links with geography as they learn about France and other countries where French is spoken.

Implementation

We follow the objectives of the National Curriculum and use a programme of study that carefully builds children’s knowledge of key grammatical structures. Class Teachers deliver the teaching of French supported by the MFL co-ordinator (who is fluent in French) and a wide variety of good quality resources that allow for good models of pronunciation. French is taught weekly across key stage 2.

At Albrighton Primary, French is taught to all pupils in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 each week. It is always a fun and popular lesson, as we like to teach it through a variety of activities such as songs, rhymes, story telling, games and role play.  

Impact

Children are enthusiastic about French and well-engaged with the lessons. There is a clear progression of skills and knowledge across the key stage. Lessons are well-resourced with accurate models of grammatical structures and pronunciation. Teachers use their excellent knowledge of English grammar to support children’s understanding of French grammar.  A range of activities including games and songs mean that children enjoy learning French and remember vocabulary. There are opportunities for children to listen to French as well as speaking, reading and writing in French.

Adaptive Teaching

Adaptive teaching means that teachers adapt their teaching to make it appropriate for all students in their classroom. This has replaced the term ‘differentiation’ quite recently which implied that teachers should create distinct tasks for different groups of students within the classroom. Adaptive teaching is about skilful teacher questioning, purposeful interventions and quality discussions with students. It recognises that some learners need more support than others to reach their learning goals while others need to be stretched. For French, this means that all children will receive Quality First Teaching (QFT) in the classroom across a series of lessons and both visual and auditory resources to maximise progress for all pupils. This can take the form of partnered and grouped work, in addition to a small step learning approach, such as: word banks, rephrasing of questions and compartmentalised sections in order to further knowledge and understanding. 

Red Arrows pupils (after several attempts at speaking in unison) welcome you!