Through these we aim for pupils’ knowledge and understanding of French to provide an opening to other cultures and deepen their understanding of the world and the people in it. It helps to equip pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It encourages pupils to appreciate and celebrate difference.

It is our intention that pupils become more expert as they progress through the curriculum, accumulating and connecting the three pillars of language learning:

• phonics - clear and reliable pronunciation and the links between sounds and spelling are integral parts of second language learning
• vocabulary - specific words are built into our curriculum that are relevant to our children, are high-frequency words in French and are revisited across a range of taught units
• grammar  - simple grammatical structures are explicitly taught and built upon across the key stage.

The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught and all necessary grammar is covered in an age-appropriate way. This enables pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning.

In Key Stage 2 will have access to a very high-quality foreign languages curriculum using the 'Mr French' scheme of work and resources. This progressively develops pupils' knowledge of French phonics, vocabulary and grammar through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons taught by a specialist language teacher, with additional in-class practice supported by teachers.

Children progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes - building blocks of language into more complex, fluent and authentic language.

The planning of different levels of challenge and which units to teach at each stage of the academic year are addressed dynamically and reviewed in detail annually as units are updated and added to the scheme. Lessons offering appropriate levels of challenge and stretch will be taught at all times to ensure pupils learn effectively, continuously building their knowledge of and enthusiasm for the language(s) they are learning.

• Early Language units are entry level units and are most appropriate for our Year 3 pupils;
• Intermediate units increase the level of challenge by increasing the amount and complexity (including French grammar concepts) of the foreign language presented to pupils. Intermediate units are suitable for our Year 4 and Year 5 pupils;
• Progressive units are the most challenging units and are suitable for our Year 6 pupils

Children will be taught how to listen and read longer pieces of text gradually in the foreign language and they will have ample opportunities to speak, listen to, read and write the language being taught with and without scaffolds, frames and varying levels of support.

Early Language Units (entry level) and Core Vocabulary lessons are designed to run for approximately 30 minutes. Intermediate and Progressive units are designed to run for approximately 45 minutes. Units, where possible and appropriate, are linked to class topics and cross curricular themes. Children build on previous knowledge gradually as their foreign language lessons continue to recycle, revise and consolidate previously learnt language whilst building on all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Grammar rules and patterns are taught by level of challenge:

• We start with nouns and articles and 1st person singular of high frequency verbs in Early Learning units.
• We move on to the use of the possessive, the concept of adjectives, use of the negative form, conjunctions/connectives and introduce the concept of whole regular verb conjugation in Intermediate units.
• We end with opinions and introduce the concept of whole high frequency irregular verb conjugation in Progressive units.

Grammar is integrated and taught discretely throughout all appropriate units.