Modern Foreign Languages
At Wembury Primary School, we strive to teach the children how to become successful learners in a meaningful and global context. We believe that the best way to achieve this is to facilitate links with schools from around the world to become curious about other foreign languages and cultures, and to apply the language skills acquired at school as confident learners. We aim for our pupils to be able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.
Wembury Primary School believes that learning foreign languages provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience to encourage pupils’ vision and awareness of the world and to support them in becoming responsible and informed global citizens. The teaching of MFL at an early age is essential to nurture a love for modern languages and to develop secure foundations in language learning to have access to a wider range of personal and career opportunities.
We teach French from Year 1 to Year 6 and have set up class-to-class links with our French partner classes at the school of Keriscoualc’h in Locmaria-Plouzane, France.
The teaching of MFL in key stage 1 focuses on exposing our pupils to the sonority and structure of the French language through learning songs, games and stories.
In key stage 2, the children learn French by investigating the mechanisms of modern languages using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary. The curriculum follows the programme of study of the National Curriculum for languages. Its key aims are 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; 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.
We use Rachel Hawkes as out French Scheme