MFL: French

Intent

At Kings Heath Primary School, our French curriculum reflects our ethos of “Nurturing ambition, achievement, respect and happiness” and our ambition for every child to become Confident, Curious and Caring.

We use the Language Angels scheme of work and resources to provide a broad, engaging and ambitious curriculum. Through carefully sequenced teaching, pupils develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to communicate in French and build a foundation for further language learning at secondary school.

Our curriculum aims to help pupils:

• Become confident communicators who are willing to practise, make mistakes and learn from them.
• Remain curious about languages, cultures and the wider world.
• Show care and respect for different identities, traditions and ways of life.
• Develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in French.
• Understand and apply age-appropriate grammar, pronunciation and sound–spelling patterns.
• Recall and use vocabulary and language structures with increasing independence.
• Recognise connections between French, English and other languages they know.

We value the languages spoken by our pupils and families. Learning French provides opportunities to celebrate this linguistic diversity and recognise multilingualism as a strength.

We maintain high expectations for all pupils. Teaching and support enable pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language, to participate meaningfully and make progress.

Implementation

Curriculum organisation

French is taught in Years 3–6 through regularly planned weekly lessons using the Language Angels scheme of work and resources.

The school’s long-term curriculum overview identifies the units taught in each year group and their sequence. Teachers use this overview alongside the scheme’s progression documents to build systematically on prior learning.

The curriculum is reviewed annually by the subject leader. Changes take account of pupils’ learning, assessment findings and updates to resources. Units are selected for their contribution to language progression; links with other curriculum subjects are made where they support this sequence.

Language Angels groups units into teaching types with increasing levels of challenge:

• Early Language: establishes foundational vocabulary, simple phrases and basic grammatical understanding.
• Intermediate: develops a wider vocabulary and more complex sentences, reading, writing and grammar.
• Progressive: supports longer spoken and written responses, more complex grammatical structures and increasingly independent language use.

Teachers select and adapt activities to reflect pupils’ prior knowledge and learning needs. Pupils who join the school with different levels of French language experience receive support to access the curriculum.

Teaching and learning

Lessons develop listening, speaking, reading and writing, alongside pronunciation, phonics and grammar. Pupils encounter these elements repeatedly so that knowledge becomes secure and can be applied in new contexts.

Teaching includes:

• Clear modelling of vocabulary, pronunciation and sentence structures.
• Listening activities using accurate spoken French.
• Songs, rhymes, stories, games and paired conversations.
• Reading words, phrases and increasingly longer texts.
• Writing activities that move from supported responses towards independent sentences and short passages.
• Regular retrieval and practice of previously taught language.
• Opportunities to express ideas, preferences and opinions.

Early Language and Core Vocabulary lessons typically take approximately 30 minutes. Intermediate and Progressive lessons typically take approximately 45 minutes. Teachers organise lesson time to provide sufficient explanation, practice and assessment.

Most Language Angels units contain six planned lessons. Teachers adapt the pace where pupils need further practice or consolidation.

Vocabulary, phonics and grammar

New vocabulary and structures are introduced in manageable steps. Teachers explicitly revisit previous learning and help pupils connect new knowledge to French they already know.

Pupils learn to recognise and reproduce French sounds and understand the relationship between sounds and spelling.

Grammar develops progressively through the selected units and includes:

• Nouns, articles and grammatical gender.
• Common verbs and changes in verb forms.
• Adjectives and agreement.
• Possessives, negatives and conjunctions.
• Questions, opinions and increasingly varied sentence structures.

Grammar is explained and practised within meaningful language activities. Teachers use the Language Angels Progression Map and Grammar Grid to support appropriate sequencing.

Pupils have access to vocabulary sheets, sentence models and other reference materials. They are taught how to use these resources, including bilingual dictionaries where appropriate, to support increasingly independent work.

Inclusion and equitable access

All pupils are entitled to an ambitious French curriculum. Teachers adapt teaching while maintaining the intended learning wherever possible.

Support may include visual prompts, repetition, additional processing time, practical activities, sentence frames, reduced copying demands and alternative ways to demonstrate understanding.

Teachers distinguish between a pupil’s understanding of French and any difficulty recording a written response. Support is reviewed and gradually reduced as pupils become more confident.

Pupils with greater prior knowledge, including those who already speak French, receive appropriate opportunities to extend their learning.

Access to essential learning does not depend on paid resources, technology at home or adult support outside school. Teachers give particular attention to pupils who need additional encouragement to participate and succeed.

Cultural understanding

Pupils explore the people, places and cultures of France and other French-speaking countries and communities. Teaching recognises diversity within countries and communities and avoids presenting cultures through stereotypes.

Where appropriate, learning is enriched through stories, music, geography, celebrations and other activities that deepen understanding and interest.

Assessment

Teachers assess pupils through questioning, observation, conversations, retrieval activities and examples of spoken and written work.

End-of-unit assessments are used where appropriate to identify what pupils know, remember and can apply across listening, speaking, reading and writing. Teachers use findings to plan further practice, address misconceptions and adapt subsequent teaching.

Assessment records are proportionate and follow the school’s agreed approach. The Language Angels Tracking and Progression Tool may support this process.

Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their learning, recognise their achievements and identify their next steps. Progress is shared with parents and carers through the school’s usual reporting arrangements.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is demonstrated through what pupils know, remember and can do with the French they have learned.

As pupils progress through Key Stage 2, they are expected to:

• Understand an increasing range of spoken French words, phrases and sentences.
• Speak with growing confidence and increasingly accurate pronunciation.
• Ask and answer questions and take part in short exchanges.
• Read and understand familiar French in increasingly varied texts.
• Write phrases and sentences with growing accuracy and independence.
• Apply taught vocabulary, sound–spelling patterns and grammar.
• Reuse previous learning in new contexts.
• Show interest in languages and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity.

By the end of Year 6, pupils should have a secure foundation in French and the confidence to approach further language learning positively.

The subject leader evaluates impact through assessment information, samples of work, lesson visits, teacher discussions and pupil conversations for curriculum insight. These conversations explore what pupils remember, how they use their learning and how they experience the subject.

Monitoring considers the progress and participation of different pupil groups, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. Findings inform curriculum development, staff support and improvements to teaching.

Where pupils experience difficulty, teachers identify the specific knowledge or skill requiring support and provide targeted practice. Subsequent assessment checks whether this support has helped.

Leadership and review

The subject leader oversees curriculum sequencing, resources, assessment and monitoring, and supports staff through guidance and professional development.

Teachers deliver the agreed curriculum, adapt teaching to pupils’ needs and use assessment to inform their next steps.

Senior leaders support curriculum implementation and review findings with the subject leader. Governors receive relevant information through the school’s curriculum reporting arrangements.