Mayfield Primary SchoolMFL: Vision
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES (FRENCH) LEADER
Miss Woodcock
'ALWAYS START WITH WHY'
What is French?
How do we begin to learn a new language?
We have set out in these two website pages how we consider these questions with our children by mapping out and delivering a clear, consistent and challenging curriculum for our children to meet their needs. You can download copies of every central document at the base of the relevant pages (VISION or CURRICULUM OVERVIEW) in PDF format. The subject guide and policy itself can be found at the base of this page.
To take a look at our curriculum overview page CLICK HERE.
Our Vision For Modern Foreign Languages (French)
At Mayfield we are continually developing and evolving our French curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all children develop competence and confidence in communicating in French through both understanding and producing language by the end of their primary journey.
We believe every child is entitled to develop a strong foundational understanding of how to learn another language, so they have a basis to build greatly upon this from Year 7 onwards, thereby empowering them to learn any language they may choose in the future. Our approach to teaching French is underpinned by an understanding that learning one language opens the doors to learning others. By learning languages, we encourage children to broaden their horizons and appreciate the fact that they are global citizens. We seek to empower our children to be ready for the future where living, working or travelling abroad may require the confidence and skill to communicate in another language.
Our school community possesses a rapidly increasing number and variety of languages spoken by its members. We celebrate the fact that a notably increasing number of our children already speak more than one language – and that in some cases are the lead translator for their family. Throughout our curriculum, we have a strong focus on effective communication and place language and vocabulary development as a focal point for progress and the reduction of individual barriers. We understand the power that language acquisition possesses.
In our French curriculum, we encourage children to appreciate the opportunities that speaking more than one language will provide them - essentially to hear from, and be heard by, people from a range of backgrounds across the globe.
How We Plan For, And Teach, French
Pupils begin learning French in Year 3. The curriculum is designed in three phases: Early Language; Intermediate Language; Progressive Language. Each with short focus projects spread across each term. There is a particular emphasis in developing children’s phonic awareness so they can confidently and accurately pronounce words in an increasingly accurate accent, with the emphasis being towards spoken language - most specifically in the Early Language phase.
Pupils in Key Stage Two have a weekly French lesson throughout the year, which is designed to be short and sharp in nature. Our curriculum is based upon Language Angels and supported, where required, with other high-quality resources to plan and teach engaging lessons broken into small, progressive steps with opportunities for meaningful practice and review. The external curriculum has been identified by the subject lead as not only an effective means for delivering French in the way we know works well for our children, but also because it provides support for subject knowledge at the point of delivery which is important for teachers who may have a varying level of experience and expertise in this subject. Sessions are devised to develop our three key cornerstones of language development: phonics, vocabulary and grammar. Learning is broken into small steps, modelled explicitly, practised deliberately and reviewed regularly and intentionally. Carefully selected high-frequency vocabulary is taught explicitly and revisited systematically over time to ensure automatic and fluent recall from long-term memory. Children learn grammatical structures, patterns and rules in a logically organised sequence. An emphasis is placed on reusable structures that children can learn to adapt and extend. Meaningful comparisons are made between the similarities and differences in English and French sentence structures. An emphasis in understanding and identifying word classes is prioritised in vocabulary and grammar instruction. In addition to the teaching of the French language, sessions provide opportunities for children to explore different French-speaking cultures to develop their intercultural understanding at the same time. The French presence is maintained through French Stations in each KS2 classroom, whilst the profile of MFL reward, achievement and celebration throughout the school year is maintained via the roles of our Student Subject Champions, Subject Celebrations and Subject Achievement Displays. Rewards always have a specific eye upon personal progress rather than summative attainment. French continues via our enrichment, wider curriculum offer: The French Collection which is a gathering of extra time spent on French language, society and food.
How We Assess Learning in French
Teachers regularly assesses children’s progress in French through listening to children’s spoken communication and evaluating their application of phonic knowledge, vocabulary and grammatical structures in a range of contexts. Children’s writing is also evaluated as a form of assessment of their application of phonics for spelling, precise use of vocabulary and manipulation of grammar. At the end of a learning project, children’s progress is assessed against the unit objectives and next steps are planned for. Children are also involved in peer and self-assessment opportunities against specific criteria and are taught to reflect on their learning to draw out areas of strength and next steps. Teachers use Brain Gym, Quizzes and Self-Quizzes as strategies for ongoing assessment within sessions. At the end of the year, class teachers make a judgement as to whether each child is working at the expected standard.
How We Adapt Learning, And Record Outcomes, In French
Our children offer a huge range of daily starting points and school readiness, therefore we have carefully considered ways of demonstrating progress and outcomes and how these must be adaptable to suit the needs of learners and the requirements of the subject. Therefore each subject has its own bespoke way of gathering evidence from learners that are not simply restricted to traditional pupil exercise books - otherwise recording work becomes a barrier to learning rather than a chance to celebrate children’s achievements and specialist skills and knowledge in areas where they may otherwise excel.
In French, children’s work is gathered in:
Individual Folders & Through Verbal Assessment
**************************
French Enrichment Opportunity:
The French Collection as part of our beyond hours offer.
*************************
My latest work as MFL (French) Leader.....
* ensure the key skills of confidence, fluency and spontaneity are fostered through discussion and questioning, whilst continually improving the accuracy of pupils' pronunciation and intonation;
* ensure that the planning and delivery of the MFL curriculum demonstrate progression for all year groups over time.