French

"Everyone’s brain is made up of neurons, which have a cell body, and dendrites, which are the connections between neurons. This is what we call 'grey matter'.

Bilingual people have more of these neurons and dendrites compared to people who speak only one language. This means that their grey matter is denser.

Bilingualism also has an impact on white matter – that is, a system of nerve fibres which connect all four lobes of the brain. This system coordinates communication between the different brain regions, helping your brain to learn and function." Cambridge.org

At Adel St John, children in Key Stage 2 learn French as their modern foreign language- it focuses on just one language so that pupils can make substantial progress in one language.  Our overarching aims are to give children an insight into other cultures, which will make them curious about other parts of the world and understand it better.  By the end of their primary school journey, children are required to express ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in oral and written form.  We also aim to provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes.

Our main aims for all pupils are:

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

-to 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

-to be able to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of
grammatical structures that they have learnt

-to discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied

Through the use of the Language Angels scheme (which uses expert and tailored French resources, assessment, games and native speakers), 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