French Intent, Implementation & Impact

Intent

As a multi-cultural community, we at Ferrars Junior School, promote the importance of a society in which everyone is welcomed, respected and appreciated regardless of their background and we strive to assist children to develop an open mind set that allows them to appreciate different cultures. Along with other aspects of the school’s curriculum that foster children’s understanding of the world, through a high-quality language education Ferrars Junior School equips students with the required speaking, writing and listening skills to be capable of communicating in a second language with confidence.

At Ferrars Junior School we believe that an early acquisition of French skills will facilitate the learning of other languages later in life. By providing a foundation in French language, our modern foreign language (MFL) curriculum intents to awake and maintain children’s natural curiosity to explore other cultures which will be of great benefit for their future in a modern society where people of different races, ethnicities and nationalities live together as part of one community. Upon leaving Ferrars and progressing to Key Stage 3, we are confident our students will have gained the necessary foreign language skills to successfully and confidently navigate through the MFL curriculum at upper academic levels.

Implementation

We teach French from Year 3 upwards and use the scheme ‘’Rigolo’’ to support our students’ learning covering the requirements of the National Curriculum in England: Language Programme of Study in KS2. Rigolo ensures that students are motivated with fun stories, songs and games, and provides teacher with extra support thanks to the onscreen ‘virtual teacher’. The scheme is a well-constructed resource with a strong focus on pronunciation, songs to aid memorisation, inclusion of cultural insight and light-touch on grammar.

Practical and interactive online activities are used to help improve memory and recall while keeping pupils engaged.
During lessons, whenever possible, instructions are delivered in French to expose children to the language as much as possible and in day to day contexts.
Whole classroom activities along with independent tasks are part of every weekly lesson to boost pupils’ confidence and give them self-assessment opportunities.
Differentiated worksheets for each lesson ensure that children access work at age related expectations, with opportunities to be challenged through higher level objectives.
Classroom displays are used to remind pupils of key vocabulary and refer to them at any time.
A consistent house points reward system is used to build speakers confidence for any contribution that they make in French.
In order to promote a deep sense of cultural immersion, every classroom takes part in activities such as French day which includes a French school dinner or whole school French assembly.

Impact

Worksheets and other recorded activities in books show that pupils develop a range of skills and language that, over time, enable them to communicate in French with other speakers. Books also show that students have opportunities for practice and refinement of skills within the MFL curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6. The long-term Rigolo scheme ensures that knowledge in the French language builds up as learners progress through the academic year. As a result, pupils’ attainment is developing, allowing them to make positive gains in their learning beyond primary school, equipping them for a globalised, multi-cultural world.