Modern Foreign Languages
Statement of intent for the Modern Foreign Languages curriculum
The National Curriculum provides the structure and skill development for the Modern Foreign Language/French curriculum for Key Stage 2, where the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing develop and progress through a variety of topics. Key vocabulary and grammatical structures are shared, taught and embedded at relevant parts of different topics. The progression of skills within a topic are built up gradually, first focusing on speaking and listening to key words relevant to the topic, embedding pronunciation and phoneme-grapheme correspondences, before labelling and matching to images. Once the pupils become familiar with the target vocabulary, they progress onto sentence-level work. Here, relevant grammar knowledge is taught in context for the pupils to be able to ask and respond to key questions, before moving onto reading and writing using word mats and models. Resources are adapted, when necessary, to ensure SEND and disadvantaged pupils can access all aspects of the same curriculum.
Learning a foreign language is a necessary part of being a member of a multi-cultural society and provides an opening to other cultures. Pupils are encouraged to express their ideas and thoughts in French and to understand and respond to its speakers, both through speech and in writing. The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read in French.
The vast majority of pupils speak English as an additional language. Learning French provides the foundation for learning further languages, equipping children to study and work in other countries and communicate more widely. The Modern Foreign Language/French curriculum fosters pupils' curiosity and deepens pupils understanding of the world.