Intent

We aim to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Languages; Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries (The 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England).

The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:  

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic 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 

Languages in KS2 at Hagbourne is taught progressively to enable pupils to make substantial progress in one language (French).  The teaching provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further language teaching at key stage 3.   In years 3 and 4 French is taught in blocks (following a set scheme) by the class teacher.  In years 5 and 6 there is a mix of teaching from the class teacher and a specialist teacher.  Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each blocked topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school.Teaching enables children to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary. The focus of study in modern languages is on practical communication.  Consideration is given to how greater depth will be taught, learnt and demonstrated within each lesson, as well as how learners will be supported in line with the school’s commitment to inclusion.

Pupils are taught 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 orally to a range of audiences
• 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, including through using a dictionary
• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly 
• 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 neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.