Our French Curriculum
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Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures; it fosters pupils’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world;
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We believe learning a language can open doors to the world for children. This can in turn open up the world to our young linguists, leading to opportunities and experiences which would otherwise be impossible;
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We know our children are gifted linguists - the majority speak at least two languages, and have a strong grasp of their own heritage and skills in a multicultural world;
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We offer French to all our EYFS and KS2 pupils as a valuable educational, social and cultural experience;
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Through learning French, children are able to develop confidence through ‘having a go’ and explore another language in a way that is enjoyable and fun;
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The children develop linguistic competence, and extend their knowledge of how language works and explore linguistic differences and similarities between French and English;
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As well as class-based learning, pupils enjoy outings where they are required to use their French language skills in real life situations e.g. eating in a French cafe and in other contexts e.g. watching French theatre performances;
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In Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to join the Eko Trust peers on a trip to France where they enjoy an immersive experience in French language and culture, as well as exploring the historical significance of Normandy through their prior learning about the Norman Conquest and World War II.
Covid adaptations to our French curriculum: Our French teacher works across a number of schools, so is unable to safely deliver lessons in person, so lessons are being delivered through live online zoom lessons For Nursery and Reception pupils and through pre-recorded lessons in Key Stage 1 and 2. Key Stage 1 lessons encompass story telling, singing, speaking and responding through hand puppets and games. Key Stage 2 pupils engage in reading and writing with games such as missing letters and flashcards. The pedagogy has been adapted to allow pupils to easily join in during home learning for French which is timetabled for a Friday afternoon via the Google Classroom platform. Every French lesson is further consolidated with a focused homework activity. As children learn safely at home during this time, we are able to use chants and singing, which we cannot do in the live lessons in Early Years. Our visits to local French cafes and theatre performances and our annual Year 6 trip to France have been suspended.