Modern Foreign Languages
Languages
At Rathfern, we celebrate all languages spoken in our school community. We encourage children to speak their native languages at home and celebrate these languages in the classroom wherever possible. Learning more than one language supports the development of neural pathways that would otherwise remain dormant. The languages we speak are also a vital part of our cultural identities.
Each half term, a language spoken within our school community is celebrated through our Language of the Month focus. All children learn greetings, simple rhymes and other key vocabulary from that language. The half term culminates in children and their families helping to create an assembly to share and celebrate the language of the month. As a result, our children understand and value their own languages. Furthermore, as a community we welcome our social diversity and develop our intercultural understanding.
Modern Foreign Languages
It is now compulsory for all children in Key Stage 2 to receive regular Modern Foreign Languages lessons.
At Rathfern our chosen language is French. Our curriculum supports children to develop the building blocks they need in order to become confident linguists through a focus on vocabulary, grammar and phonic awareness. We offer French lessons to all children from Nursery to Year 6, as we believe all children in our community should reap the benefits of learning a second language.
In Early Years and Key Stage 1, French is taught through a programme of songs and games. Lessons cover the following topics:
- Greetings
- Colours
- Numbers
- Days of the week
- Months of the year
- Family
- Birthdays
- Weather
- Sea creatures
In Key Stage 2, weekly lessons are taught through the Primary Languages Network scheme of work. Click the links below to explore the vocabulary, grammar and phonics explored within each topic.
The structure of our French curriculum empowers children to develop a ‘can-do’ approach to learning languages. Our aim is to become a truly bilingual school, with a ‘whole school’ approach to language learning. As such, we aim to embed the language skills learned in weekly French lessons throughout school life, for example performing French songs for assemblies, or listening and responding to simple instructions in French throughout the school day.
We have also developed links with local Secondary schools, to support transitions and to agree on key priorities for language teaching in our school.
As part of our drive to decolonise our curriculum, children are supported to develop a critical awareness of the social, cultural and historical context in which French has come to be a major global language. This supports the children to understand their place in the world as global citizens.
