At Saint Joseph’s, the Borough, we want to foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world by offering a thorough Languages curriculum. Research shows that when learning a foreign language, the earlier children begin, the better. Young children are intrinsically better language learners and will therefore become more proficient, more quickly. Early learners tend to be more intuitive, less anxious and better at acquiring the sounds and rhythms of new languages. Additionally, we live in an increasingly globalised world in which intercultural competence is essential. Learning a foreign language not only develops a child’s language skills in another language, it allows them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in that language. It awakens children’s interests in other people, countries and cultures, helping them to become well-rounded, respectful and tolerant citizens. Our primary intention for the pupils is to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation through discussion and asking questions. Additionally, we want the children to be able to write at varying length, to serve practical purposes and realistic audiences. In the twenty-first century our pupils need to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures, particularly in a global city like London.
During their time at Saint Joseph’s, the Borough, children in Years 5 and 6 learn French. The pupils build upon their language skills on a weekly basis with a fluent French speaker and gain confidence and skills that support their learning in Key Stage 3. National Curriculum outcomes are taught using clear learning objectives, differentiated activities and regular opportunities for assessment. This provides a solid foundation to begin to speak and write simple words and then progress on to longer phrases and sentences in French. The children are encouraged to listen attentively to the spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding during short conversations. These conversations facilitate the correct use of basic vocabulary in complete sentences that develop accurate pronunciation and intonation. In turn, they lead to the sharing aloud and therefore, the appreciation, of stories, poems, rhymes and songs that are central to different French language traditions from around the world, not solely France itself. The grammatical patterns of French are introduced and linked to spelling, including through the use of a bi-lingual dictionary. The pupils then employ words and phrases from memory, adapting these to create new sentences, expressing their ideas clearly in short episodes of writing.
The large majority of our pupils will be working at least at age-related expectations for their year group at the end of each school year in Languages (French) and a significant proportion will be working beyond these expectations. It is intended that when children leave Saint Joseph’s, they will be engaged and motivated to continue language learning at secondary school, be it French or alternative languages offered. The exposure to French will engender a natural, abiding curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages. The pupils will recognise that, in a multi-lingual society it is a highly valuable and sought-after skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language, not least in the employment market after secondary education.
