Modern Foreign Languages at The Royal School

We teach French at The Royal School in Years 3 and 4. We aim to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want the children to develop the confidence to communicate in French for practical purposes, using both written and spoken French. 

We use Kapow Primary's French scheme of work, which aligns with the National Curriculum requirements, and aims to give the children a foundation of language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning additional languages, developing a strong understanding of the English Language, facilitating future study and opening opportunities to study and work in other countries in the future.  

Our French sceme of work is designed with three knowledge strands that run throughout the units with knowledge building cummatively. These are:-

• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Grammar

This knowledge can then be applied within our skills strands, which also run throughout each unit in the scheme:- 

• Language comprehension (Listening and reading)
• Language production (Speaking and writing)

Through the scheme there is a progression of the knowledge and skills that are taught within Years 3 and 4. The children are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. The scheme provides balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written French, although there is more of a focus on the development or oral skills in Year 3 that are then incorporated into written French in Year 4. 

French is taught as a spiral curriculum, with key skills and vocabulary repeated with increasing complexity, allowing the children to revise and build on their previous learning. Cross-curricular links are made through out our French units, allowing the children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of their learning. 

Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including role-play, language games and language detective work. There is a focus on developing langauge detective skills and developing an understanding of French grammar rather than the children needing to learn vast amounts of French vocabulary. Pronunciation is emphasised.

Our French lessons are differentiated and scaffolded so that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all of the children.

The impact of our French curriculum is continually monitored through both formative and summative assessments and the impact of lessons are assessed against the learning objectives. 

The expected impact of following the Kapow French sequence of work is that the children will:-

• Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (eg. ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion
• Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamilliar words, phrases and short texts
• Speak and read aloud for confidence and accuracy in pronounciation
• Demonstrtae understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately
• Be able to identify word classes in a sentance and apply grammatical rules they have learnt