Subject Leader: Mrs K Jones
At Applegarth, our languages curriculum aims to inspire a love of languages and an appreciation of different cultures, equipping pupils with the confidence to communicate in an increasingly connected world. Through speaking, listening, reading and writing activities, children develop their vocabulary, pronunciation and understanding of the French language in engaging and meaningful ways. The curriculum promotes our core values of collaboration, as pupils learn and practise language skills together; courage, as they develop the confidence to communicate in a new language and embrace mistakes as part of learning; and compassion, as they gain respect for different cultures, traditions and perspectives. Through these experiences, children become confident, curious and globally aware learners.
Documents – Languages – Intent
| Languages – Intent Policies & Documents | Download |
| National Curriculum – Languages | Download |
| Progression in Languages (French) | Download |
| Languages Long-Term Plan* | Download |
At Applegarth Primary School, we aim to inspire all our KS2 children as linguists, encouraging a thirst for learning other languages and an enthusiasm to put their knowledge into practice as much as possible. Children are encouraged to speak with confidence in a safe and supportive environment, developing fluency and spontaneity, and learning new words and phrases that they then build on in future lessons to compose small sentences and phrases. Teaching is fun, informative and allows lots of opportunities for children to explore the accuracy of their pronunciation and grammar in spoken and written form, with the use of songs, stories and games, all aimed at consolidating what they already know before building new skills. Children explore the patterns, grammar and sounds of French, expressing their own opinions and using familiar vocabulary, building upon cognates (words that sound or look the same in a different language to English). The understanding of cultures that are different or similar to the one they know is interwoven into lessons as diversity is celebrated and valued. By the end of KS2, children have broadened their vocabulary to be able to write some phrases from memory and expressing their ideas clearly in written or oral form. Children learn French primarily but will be given the opportunity to learn new words in other languages as they study different parts of the world in different contexts.
*We are in the process of continuing our curriculum journey. Speak to our languages lead, Mrs K Jones for the most up-to-date version of the languages long-term plan.
Implementation
Every opportunity is taken at Applegarth Primary School to provide our children with happy, positive, confident-building opportunities for children to put their knowledge into practice, whether in independent, paired or group work. Children learn about traditions in different countries and opportunities are made to use new vocabulary in different ways, for example, writing their Christmas cards in French or learning to sequence ideas when listing fruit (in French!) in a ‘panier’! Children use Google Earth to discover different countries that speak different languages and are enthusiastic in their search to find out more, for example, when Year 3/4 children researched how many languages were on road signs in other European countries. An exciting opportunity has arisen to make a strong link with a primary school in Toulouse, France and children are excited to receive Christmas cards from the children there. In return, cards have been sent and we look forward to forging new ways of making learning languages at Applegarth even more relevant, real and exciting!
Impact
What our pupils say about learning French at Applegarth:
“French is taught by helpful, knowledgeable teachers who make the subject fun.” (Y5 pupil)
“I find French intriguing and love learning new words every week.” (Y4 pupil)
