Peatmoor Community Primary School

At Peatmoor School we believe that the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for the pupils.  Pupils develop communication and literacy skills that lay the foundation for future language learning, making progress in one language. Here we teach French. In addition, children’s knowledge of how language works are developed in order to lay the foundations for further language learning in future. We believe that learning another language gives children a new and broader perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others.

Our French curriculum, which is based on Rising Stars French, ensures all pupils develop key language learning skills, as set out by the national curriculum, as well as a love of languages and learning about other cultures. These are as follows:

• Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.
• Engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, express opinions and respond to those of others, and seek clarification and help.
• Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing.
• Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary.
• Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, expressing their ideas clearly.
• Describe people, pleases, things and actions in speech and in writing.

At Peatmoor we use a variety of techniques to encourage the children to have an active engagement in the modern foreign language: these include games, role-play, action songs and stories. We use mime to accompany new vocabulary as this serves to demonstrate the language without the need for translation. We emphasise listening, responding and speaking skills in KS2 with the addition of simple reading and writing skills. The children are taught skills for learning a language and there is progression from Y3 to Y6. We enjoy learning how languages from around the world link together. Our French curriculum gives plenty of opportunity for cross curricular links as well. 

We use a multi-sensory and kinaesthetic approach to teaching i.e. we try to introduce a physical element into some of the games, rhymes and songs as we believe this serves to reinforce memory. We make lessons as enjoyable as possible so that the children develop a positive attitude to the learning of modern foreign languages. We build the children’s confidence through praise for any contribution they make, however tentative.