Throckley Primary School
French – Intent, Implementation and Impact Intent
At Throckley Primary School, we know that the study of a modern foreign language enhances children’s literacy, self-confidence and broader cultural understanding. Our ambition to embed language learning within our curriculum is born of the statutory commitment in the National Curriculum to give every child between the ages of 7 and 11 the opportunity to learn a new language. With over 220 million speakers internationally, French is the second most widely learnt language after English. French is also the second most widely taught language after English- the only two languages spoken on every continent. The importance of outstanding modern foreign language provision is embodied in our curriculum drivers:
Understanding our place in the world
Given that 60-70% of the world’s population is bilingual, acquiring another language is a crucial asset in the global economy, an advantage for finding a job with the many multinational companies, in a wide range of sectors: retailing, automotive, luxury goods, aeronautics, etc. Simultaneously, children gain a better perspective of their own country and locality, making comparisons and contrasts.
Aspiring to achieve
Learning French provides a satisfying, enjoyable and intellectually challenging experience for children in coping with a different linguistic medium. The study of a language involves the practice of observational and study skills, and committing to memory useful material for subsequent recall: essential skills for higher education.
Broadening horizons
Thanks to the development of computing and the Internet, we can improve and deepen our connections with the world, celebrate languages and the diversity of cultures and promote international and intercultural experiences. By taking children out of a pervasively English context, we ensure they can explore the life-style and culture of another land through the medium of its language.
The curriculum at Throckley aims to found progress throughout a child’s school career by developing a secure understanding of grammar, vocabulary and culture at the relevant stage. Insecure, superficial understanding prevents genuine progression: pupils may struggle at key stage transitions, amass damaging misconceptions, or have significant difficulties in understanding higher-order content.
Subject Aims
At Throckley, we want children to be able to:
understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of sources;
speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation;
can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt;
discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Implementation
At Throckley, we follow the Primary French Project scheme of work and resources. The PFP correctly regards the teaching of languages to young children as having an impact on improving literacy, building self-confidence and widening cultural horizons.
The principles of learning and teaching embedded in excellence and enjoyment include several that are emphasised in this scheme:
ensure every child succeeds;
build on what the learners already know;
make learning vivid and real;
make learning an enjoyable and challenging experience.
The Primary French Project (PFP) is precisely sequenced for maximum learning retention from Year 3 to Year 6 and beyond. “Progress in curricular terms means knowing more and remembering more, so a curriculum needs to carefully plan for that progress by considering the building blocks and sequence in each subject.” (Ofsted – 2021). Three key components are incorporated into the learning and activities of each lesson:
-Oracy
Oracy (listening, speaking and spoken interaction about language) has a more prominent place in language learning than in other subjects. All learners acquire language through exposure, enabling them to assimilate and re-use it. From an early age, children should be given regular and frequent opportunities to listen to the new language enabling them to identify and distinguish new sounds, reproduce and reuse them and make links between the sounds and written forms. The introduction of content is deliberate and considered, “using spaced or distributed practice, where knowledge is rehearsed for short periods over a longer period of time” and is thereby more effective (Rohrer & Taylor, 2006).
-Literacy
Literacy (reading and writing) is supported by, and reinforces, the development of oracy. Whilst overwhelming if incorrectly implemented, the measured introduction of literacy skills as part of a rich learning environment, stimulates communication and understanding in speech and writing. In line with the findings of the Ofsted ReviewLanguages- 2021, the PFP reinforces the theory that “the building blocks of a language system are sounds, words and rules about how these connect to create sentences and meanings (phonics, vocabulary, grammar).” Texts are chosen to engage learners at a level appropriate to their stage of development and the vocabulary and grammar they have acquired at that stage. These can also support the acquisition of cultural knowledge and develop further cross-curricular links.
-Phonics
The teaching of phonics is an effective way of supporting children’s language learning. By explicitly teaching linked phonemes and graphemes to children, learners gain the tools of phonological decoding, allowing them to improve the pace and accuracy of their sight-reading of an unfamiliar text in the target language. Equally, the capacity of learners to retain new vocabulary is exponentially improved because they are able to make stronger sound-symbol connections when confronted with new words.
-Oracy and Literacy Skills Development
The emphasis in Year 3 is very much on developing listening skills, closely followed by speaking skills, all the while building confidence and enthusiasm. To this end, there is a focus on basic greetings, core vocabulary, clear understanding and simple sentences. Through regular phonics, recognising phonemes & graphemes is tied to learning vocabulary at word level.
In Year 4, the emphasis shifts to developing an understanding of basic French grammar such as knowledge of word classes, noun-adjectival agreement and some verb forms. The children learn to construct sentences with an increased vocabulary and evermore choice. They further understand written and spoken language in terms of pronunciation, liaison and elision, alongside the function of different examples of accents.
In Year 5, sees the development of fundamental reading and writing skills rooted in phonics and greater independent use of a bilingual dictionary. Teaching uses formal and informal text types to sustain the development of oracy and literacy skills. The children create complex spoken sentences and write using writing frames, creating sentences with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions.
In Year 6, the focus is on promoting independent expression, concentrating on the school day. They are able to construct spoken and written sentences that involve a wide range of word classes and to use a dictionary in order to find the vocabulary that they need. They are able to engage with a greater variety of text types and develop strategies to assist with understanding.
What will I see if I visit a French lesson in Throckley Primary School?
Evidence-informed lesson routines
Lesson routines at Throckley Primary School support staff in the implementation of Rosenshine’s principles of instruction. They ensure that what we know and understand about how best pupils learn, is then reflected in how we teach. The ‘teach – task – teach – task’ model allows ample time for misconceptions to be addressed. Lesson time is given to connecting to previous (and relevant) taught content; concise explanation; clear examples; time for practice before application; and challenge for all.
Creative, dynamic and passionate teachers
Individual class teachers decide upon those activities and tasks that will best engage children and secure learning. The PFP lesson plans, slides and resources contain a wealth of ideas to pursue.
Clear, detailed explanations and modelling
Teaching is explicitly clear and tailored to individual need. Children repeat, rehearse and revisit language orally and in written form according to teacher modelling. The PFP provides resources to support non-French speaking staff with accurate pronunciation and ensure they secure key subject knowledge Class teachers’ acute understanding of assessment allows them to know each child as an individual and know when the time is right to remove support, guiding the child to independence at the pace that is right for them.
Quality talk
Classroom talk is explicitly taught and age-appropriate prompts in the classroom support children in dialogic talk by scaffolding and extending responses. Talk ‘norms’ are embedded with differentiated sentence stems displayed which support children in reciprocal talk. Children are taught talk moves, including how to agree, disagree, support, challenge, clarify and summarise.
Skilful teacher questioning
A commitment to staff training in this area has led to a teaching team that is skilled in using questioning to support learners in reaching their potential. A mix of strategies allow class teachers to direct questions to individuals where necessary, or use a ‘no
Credit: Alex Bedford ‘Pupil Book Study Handbook’hands up approach’ to allow children to contribute freely. To stretch children to the appropriate cognitive level, class teachers use prompts and cues to extend thinking.
Spaced retrieval of key learning
Teachers employ a range of strategies (embedded across school), which support children in the recall and retention of key knowledge. These are drawn upon during low-stakes assessments and prior to the teaching of new, related content and are exactly indicated on resources.
Clear learning intentions and tasks, which are appropriately challenging
Each lesson has a clear intention shared with children as a joint learning enterprise. The end result must be that new learning is thoroughly practised while all prior knowledge (in common with all language learning) is used as both the objective and the means to its completion. Children remember key knowledge, but also develop a full understanding of it in order to then apply this in context, creating authentic outcomes (written and spoken) which draw on their learning experience over time.
Authentic experience
All activities within and without school are fundamentally learning experiences chosen for the knowledge they secure in children. The “wonder” of the experience is in the learning and not the novelty of the event; thus, whole school events (such as Mardis Gras) are carefully planned to support our driver of ‘Broadening Horizons’
Resilient, independent learners
Children are taught metacognitive strategies, including how to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning. Shared success criteria allow children to have ownership of their learning and support them to be able to monitor their progress. Shared and verbalised class teacher thinking also models the thinking process for children and this is evident across school.
Our Wonderful Learners (OWLs) have been created to support children’s metacognitive development. Our OWLs encapsulate six learning behaviours, which we believe are integral to success both in school and beyond
Classroom scaffolds and displays allow children to see what each behaviour looks like in practice. As children move up the school, they are taught to independently identify the learning behaviour needed for a given task. OWLs support children’s self-regulation and also provide scaffolds for group and paired work.
Beautiful Work
Driven by our value of ‘pride’, we teach children the importance of well-presented, carefully planned work. Children are proud to display their outcomes; resilience, effort and progress are praised. Displays across school celebrate this success for the whole school community: children, families, practitioners and other stakeholders.
Impact
The success of French teaching at Throckley Primary School can be measured in the delight children take in expressing themselves in another language. By fostering a love for a place and culture beyond their immediate community serves to drive our belief in broadening the horizons of the children at Throckley. Our MFL curriculum ensures that children develop their knowledge of where different languages, including the range of home languages spoken by the families of the school, are spoken in the world.
A mixture of formative and summative assessment is employed to ensure progress throughout the Key Stage. The children are given regular opportunities throughout the year to showcase their learning in written form. The Seesaw app on iPads is used regularly to evidence progress and learning in French oracy. Child (self and peer) assessment is increasingly encouraged within lessons. Teacher assessments will be tracked on SIMS against year group criteria at each relevant entry point. Progress and outcomes are decided upon using a combination of summative assessments, formative evaluation and evidence over time in children’s books.
Children’s progress against statutory knowledge and skills objectives is closely tracked by teachers using SIMs and the National Curriculum objectives by year group Crucially, pupil-book study, founded on the delicately structured evocation of the children’s learning in their own terms, forms the lynchpin of monitoring French learning. This ensures that the subject leader is confident of the success of the curriculum through the lens of those for whom it must be crafted.
The rich learning experiences in and out of class, guarantee that languages are celebrated, and multiculturalism is championed throughout the school community whilst providing a context for language learning and developing the children’s understanding of different cultures. Language is not only the mechanism of their learning but the key to their ambition and a conduit to their future.
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