French
Our school helps us to walk with Jesus, to be the best that we can be. Through God’s love and guidance, we create an ethos of shared endeavour, friendship and co-operation to help us flourish academically, emotionally and spiritually.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Bonjour et bienvenue! Hello and welcome to MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) at Baxenden St John’s!
French Intent at Baxenden St John’s
At Baxenden St. John’s our intention is that all children are able to understand and respond to a modern foreign language in both its spoken and written forms from a variety of authentic sources. We help our pupils to be able to speak in a second language (French) with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity. Through discussion and asking questions they will continually improve the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation. By supporting our children in writing at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, they will be able to use the range of grammatical structures that they have learnt. We encourage and enable pupils to learn through collaborative and multi-sensory approaches so that they are able to have fun whilst discovering and developing their language skills to best effect.
Purpose and provision:
Learning a foreign language from a young age has many varied benefits. It liberates children from insularity, fosters curiosity and deepens their understanding of our wider world in providing an opening to other cultures.
At our school children are taught French during their time in Key Stage Two. Regular lessons aim to enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and writing; laying the foundations for further foreign language teaching at Key Stage Three.
Aims:
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, using familiar words and phrases or presenting 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
French at home – useful documents and links
The following are useful links to songs, games and video clips plus specific documents created to support your child’s MFL learning. Summaries of learning documents specific to your child’s year group are designed to keep parents involved and to support you in helping your child to converse in French and revisit what has been taught during holiday periods. Please check for updates and new additions from time to time:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/lingo-show
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks1–ks2-mfl-french-greetings-with-ben-shires/zdpdvk7
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06lrx3v
https://www.duolingo.com/course/fr/en/Learn-French
https://www.mamalisa.com/?p=22&t=ec&c=22
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