Christ Church CE Primary School
'Let your light shine' Matthew 5:16
At Christ Church it is our intent to provide children with the opportunity
to develop a foreign language. We want to deliver a curriculum which is
accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so
that they not only know more but also remember more and understand
more. We believe that children need to enjoy lessons, be engaged and
challenged in order for them to understand, retain knowledge and progress.
Our aim is that all children in KS2 will gain the composite knowledge to enable them to both produce and understand French (reading, writing, speaking and listening.) We want them to leave our school confident and motivated to continue to further develop
their skills into the next stage of their education and beyond.
At Christ Church, in conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, our Language teaching offers opportunities for children to:
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
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
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
write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences
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 neutral forms
Consistent weekly teaching over the 4 years of KS2 is necessary in order for our pupils to make substantial progress by the end of Year 6. To ensure this, language learning is implemented through regular weekly teaching of 20-30 minutes. Pupils learn how the basic components of phonics, vocabulary and grammar combine to produce ever more complex language. A native speaker guides pupils through interactive lessons with quality visuals and images, as developed by the National Oak Academy. Each lesson contains reviews of prior learning and ends with an exit quiz. This enables new learning to enter the long-term memory, ready for automatic recall and increasingly fluent dialogue. New language is practiced through songs, poems, rhymes, games, stories, grammar, videos, sentence work, dictionary work and drama – enabling every child to access French. The objectives taught are listed in the Primary Languages programme of study and KS2 Framework for Languages, ensuring a logical progression of new high-frequency vocabulary practiced with repeated exposure to similar language structures.
The impact and measure of Languages is to ensure that children at Christ Church are not only able to communicate using basic phrases and hold a short conversation but also use these basic components of learning to develop a schema that allows them to apply their knowledge of language and its structure to new language situations e.g., knowing how to describe food can also imply they know how to describe animals. The curriculum hopes to develop a curiosity and interest in languages so that when when learners reach KS3 they can either continue with French or pick up a new language such as Spanish.