Intent

Our intent is to provide our children with an engaging, exciting and empowering curriculum that allows them to develop as confident responsible citizens equipped with the skills that will allow them to be successful in our ever-changing world, both in the present and the future.

We believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives.  We constantly provide enrichment opportunities (memorable experiences) to engage learners and develop their cultural capital which has been recognised as essential if children are to succeed.

We believe that our children should not only reach their best academically, but also develop a thirst for knowledge, foster a love of learning and leave our school with exceptional independent learning skills.

We are fully committed to developing each child's unique potential within a secure and caring environment.

We use our Captain Webb Values to promote positive attitudes to learning:

Listen

Encourage

Achieve

Respect

Nurture

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures.  The 2014 National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages Appendix A aims to ensure that all children receive: A high-quality languages education which should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.

At Captain Webb we are committed to ensuring that teaching enables pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. We recognise that competence in another language enables children to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures.

We believe that by teaching MFL we provide the foundation for learning further languages, as well as the means to access international opportunities for study and work later in life.  The teaching of French in KS2 provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3.

 

Implementation

At Captain Webb we teach French as this is the first language that our feeder secondary schools start with and the language that staff are most familiar with.  Children are introduced to French in the EYFS through basic classroom routines.  Throughout KS1, children are included in participating in special occasions such as World French Day.  This enables the children to develop early language acquisition skills that facilitate their understanding of the patterns of language and how these are similar to , or differ from English. 

In KS2, French is taught to each class during a weekly timetabled lesson of 45 minutes. Lessons throughout KS2 support the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing whilst in addition learning about Francophone cultures.  Children are taught skills to enable them to listen attentively and respond by joining in with rhymes, games and songs. We emphasise the speaking and listening skills over the reading and writing skills.

• We follow the primary MFL Scheme of work for French provided by La Jolie Ronde which thus ensures coverage and progression across school.  Knowledge and skills in French are mapped out across the school from Year 3 – Year 6.

• At the beginning of a new unit of learning, children have the opportunity to recall prior learning as well as what they would like to find out. This informs the programme of study and also ensures that lessons are relevant and take account of children’s different starting points.

• Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, poems, rhymes and songs (particularly action songs).  These are delivered through the curriculum content, as well as through using a variety of native French speakers through the aid of recordings.

• As confidence grows children are encouraged to record their work through pictures, captions and sentences.

• Cross curricular links have been identified in PE, music, art and DT, and are taken advantage of in order to deepen learning.

• In Year 6, children have the opportunity to visit France in order to experience a different language and culture.

• An After School Club provides children with the experience of learning about Francophone cultures in a fun environment.  We believe introducing a physical element into some games serves to reinforce memory.

 

Impact

We believe that by the time our children leave our school:

• Children will be able to communicate with adults and each other in French.

• Children will have become aware that a language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another having developed their language through the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.

• Children will learn how the language skills acquired can be applied to a range of different languages.

• Children will have developed an understanding of Francophone customs and cultures consequently having further respect for others.

• Children will increase their self-esteem.

• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills.