Modern Foreign Languages are taught at Wilnecote Junior Academy. 

Intent, Implementation and Impact

The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources

• Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
• Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
• Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

Intent

At Wilnecote Junior Academy children are given the opportunity to develop their French language skills as well as learn about French culture and traditions. Children will learn to express their thoughts and ideas in French and be able to respond through speaking and listening and in reading and writing. We believe that foreign language learning is full of rich opportunities to develop pupil’s spiritual, moral and cultural experiences.

The pupils will do this through:

• Listening attentively to spoken language and showing understanding by joining in and responding

• Exploring the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and linking the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• Engaging in conversations; asking and answering questions; expressing opinions and responding to those of others; seeking clarification and help
• Speaking in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• Developing accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• Presenting ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• Reading carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• Appreciating stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• Broadening their vocabulary and developing their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material.
• Writing phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly.
• Describing people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
• Understanding basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine and masculine forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

Implementation

At Wilnecote Junior Academy, pupils are taught all four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing and each of these skill areas are practised, consolidated, reinforced and assessed on a regular basis. A variety of language teaching methods are used to match groups and individuals with different learning styles, these include games, role-play, use of a range of media and songs. The lessons are made as entertaining and enjoyable as possible, as we realise that this approach serves to develop a positive attitude in the children to the learning of modern foreign languages. We use the Oak Academy scheme of work and teachers can adapt these lessons to suit each class. At each stage, the teacher will refer to prior learning and carry out informal assessment of children’s stage of development before moving on. We have consolidated with local secondary schools to ensure our children’s learning will continue through KS3.

Impact

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

• Observing children speaking and listening in another language
• Marking of written work
• Images and videos of children completing speaking and listening activities
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)

 

The MFL (Modern Foreign Language) subject leader will monitor the impact MFL teaching (French) is having on the children’s learning through work scrutinies to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught. They will also ensure the knowledge taught is retained by the children and continually revisited and that the learners are able to apply the skills they have been taught to a variety of different settings, showing independence with their learning.

National curriculum in England: languages programmes of study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)