Goat Lees French Curriculum

Intent, Implementation, Impact

Intent 

At Goat Lees Primary School, we have chosen to learn French as our foreign language. In Ashford, we are very close to several key transport links to France and many of our pupils and their families visit this neighbouring foreign country in their holidays. We also have several family links to France through staff members, children and the wider school community. Learning a foreign language can improve children’s listening skills, concentration and long-term memory and it will help them to be intrigued and more tolerant towards different countries and cultures around the world.  

The intent of French teaching and learning at Goat Lees is: 

• To support pupils to leave Goat Lees with good recall of key French phrases and basic conversational skills.  

• To ensure that our pupils are confident and happy to continue to learn and practise French speaking and listening, as well as other foreign languages in the future. 

• To allow children to learn about French Geography, culture and traditions to help them to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of this nearby country.  

• To encourage opportunities to write in French, starting with short spellings, writing short sentences, and eventually, short letters to French friends.  

• To offer exciting opportunities to learn French in a memorable way, including learning about culture, cuisine and traditions in France to inspire engagement with this important language.  

Implementation 

• In Key Stage 2, children in each class will learn from a carefully planned French curriculum, which has been designed to offer a broad range of topics and skills for our learners to discover.  

• The curriculum focuses on four main areas for our learners to progress in: 

Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing in French.  

• The school uses Language Angels as a basis for our French curriculum as this offers clear lessons and activities for each topic, and it allows non-specialist teachers to successfully teach clear and memorable French lessons.  

• Class teachers may use resources from other websites and apps so that they can encourage all learners to progress in their skills and knowledge and if they feel they can find a resource that is better suited to their class.  

• Our teachers will use a mixture of reading, listening and repeating to take on new vocabulary, songs and videos to help learners to engage with new vocabulary, and reading and writing activities to help embed their new skills and knowledge.  

• In each year group, children will have opportunities to revisit and retrieve their prior knowledge so that vocabulary can build-up and progress from each child’s knowledge and understanding.  

• Teaching staff will use other opportunities to practise new French skills and knowledge such as the class register so that French learning is part of the life of the school, not just during French lessons.  

• Class teachers will assess each child’s understanding and progress in their key topics for the year, using our master assessment sheet. This will allow class teachers and teaching assistants to revisit units that pupils have found more challenging.  

• Class teachers will feedback to parents on their child’s attainment and progress in French, using the annual school report and through conversations throughout the year.  

• Class teachers will look for other opportunities to encourage French learning through exciting experiences such as school trips, pen-pal letter writing and Q&A sessions with French people and other Francophones.  

Impact 

Our carefully planned French curriculum ensures that our children will: 

• Improve in their knowledge of key French vocabulary.  

• Be more confident when learning new French vocabulary and vocabulary in other foreign languages in the future.  

• Be able to use new French vocabulary more-and-more confidently as they progress through their primary languages learning.  

• Use their French vocabulary in their wider lives throughout the school, such as in other lessons and at home as well.  

• Make as much progress as possible, thanks to careful planning of the whole curriculum as well as individual French lessons.  

• Enjoy French learning throughout the school and in different settings and other curriculum subjects too, so that they are confident and enthusiastic language learners and users in their lives.  

Therefore, French learning at Goat Lees is focused on regular, precise and enjoyable opportunities to learn, practise and embed their French skills so that they make as much progress as possible.  

If you would like to see our curriculum map, please click here.

If you would like to see our progression in skills document, please click here.