At Farnsfield St Michael’s, we understand the importance of children learning and developing skills when learning a language that is different to their own. We believe that learning a foreign language provides a gateway to other cultures and enables pupils to deepen their understanding of the world. We aim to equip children with the basic skills to comprehend , speak and respond at a functional level in both verbal and written form.  We believe a love of MLF can impact children future career aspirations as it can inspire children to study and work in other countries in the future. By the end of KS2, we aim for children at St Michael’s have a firm foundation of language-learning skills for further language learning for secondary school and beyond. 

We deliver French learning through the Kapow primary French scheme which is tailored to the needs of a mixed age setting. This scheme has ensured that teachers have a strong subject knowledge to deliver weekly a highly effective languages curriculum to our children. We begin formal French lessons in KS2, though the learning doesn’t start there, as KS1 are regularly exposed to French words and phrases to help aid their familiarity and understanding of the language for when they move further up the school.

Kapow Primary’s French scheme of work aims to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures and to supports pupils to meet the national curriculum end of Key stage 2 attainment targets. We want pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in French for practical purposes, using both written and spoken French. Through this scheme of work, we aim to give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning further languages, developing a strong understanding of the English language, facilitating future study and opening opportunities to study and work in other countries in the future. Through Kapow Primary’s French scheme, pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. The scheme provides balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written French. The Kapow Primary scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key skills and vocabulary revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Cross-curricular links are included throughout the French units, allowing children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of their learning. Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired
and group work including role-play, language games and language detective work. The scheme of work focuses on developing what we term ‘language detective skills’
and developing an understanding of French grammar, rather than on committing to memory vast amounts of French vocabulary. Differentiated guidance is available for
every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all. The impact of Kapow Primary’s scheme can be monitored continuously through
both formative and summative assessment. 

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary French scheme of work is that children will:

• Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g., ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.
• Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases, and short texts.
• Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
• Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.
• Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
• Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.
• Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French, English, and other languages.
• Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.

The scheme ensures that the end of Key Stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum are taught:

• Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• Engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
• Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
• Understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency
  verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.