At Trinity Road School, French is taught across Key Stage 2 by members of staff who have lived and worked in France. Each class has a 30 minute lesson per week. To enrich class-based learning, we also have themed assemblies that develop cultural capital and promote the British Values of mutual respect and tolerance of others. Most recently, Key Stage 2 enjoyed an afternoon celebrating European Day of Languages with a carousel of different activities. Please see above for more information. Following pupil perceptions, a similar event will be organised in the Spring term on the topic of Easter celebrations across Europe.
French Curriculum
Our French baseline document details the vocabulary all children will know before they reach Secondary School. This has been created with guidance from local Key Stage 3 French teachers to enable our children to enjoy and succeed in their continued learning of French and other Modern Foreign Languages. At the end of each lesson, children have a ‘code-breaker’ challenge. This develops the skills of language acquisition such as identifying cognates, building on prior learning, understanding verb and adjective agreements and recognising changes in word order.
In Years 3 and 4, children learn essential French vocabulary to introduce themselves and their family members. Children learn to read, write and speak in simple sentences. These include short conversations, asking for things and describing objects using colours. Writing is recorded in books to enable the children to refer back to prior learning. Children are taught to translate and follow verbal instructions using key vocabulary, cognates and actions. Children learn to count up to 20 and use this information in their spoken, written, oral and aural learning. Vocabulary is often taught through songs and is provided on Knowledge Organisers. Children are encouraged to use these independently to support their learning.
In Years 5 and 6, children consolidate their prior learning during the Autumn Term before moving onto writing and speaking in longer sentences with more detail. These include paired presentations on hobbies and interests. Children are taught to read and appreciate short poems and identify similarities between English and French fairy tales. Vocabulary is provided on Knowledge Organisers and children are encouraged to use these, alongside French dictionaries, to support their learning.
In the Spring term, a lunchtime French club is run to enable children to develop their interest in Francophone countries and their French Language skills. Here are some photos from our French Club.
On Thursday 26th September, KS2 celebrated European Day of Languages with an exciting trio of activities. We began with an assembly, talking about the importance of respect and belonging. We wrote a poem inspired by Europe which will be displayed around school. Later on, the children took part in language and culture based activities such as a musical code breaking session, flag making arts and crafts and French food tasting. The activities were thoroughly enjoyed and the children learnt lots about Europe through exploring the concepts of identity, respect, tolerance and belonging.
Merci beaucoup à tous!
