French
We want to foster a love of languages at an early age and for our learners to be confident to communicate in a foreign language. To enable this we have a clear focus on communicative activities.
We develop language that they may need to take part in a conversation with a French speaker and focus on constantly practising speaking and listening skills. The children are encouraged to build words into sentences and develop role plays. They often enjoy using our French puppets to help.
Over time, the children are exposed to written French and move from reading a few key words to longer pieces of text. We encourage them to make links between French and English grammar by identifying similarities and differences.
By using a variety of DVDs an CDs of native speakers the children are exposed to accurate pronunciation and develop an awareness of the culture of France. We encourage the children to practise their language skills regularly whether by answering the register in French or following simple classroom requests.
We hope many of our children will choose to study languages at secondary school.
Overview
Year 3
Autumn
Greetings
Asking and answering questions about themselves (name, age)
Alphabet Numbers 1-12
Verb: to have (context age J’ai ….ans)
Spring
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Asking and answering questions about their family
Describing their siblings Colours
Verb: To call (context il/elle s’appelle)
Negative sentence structure
Genders of nouns
Summer
Understanding classroom commands
Classroom objects
Noun adjective word order
Verb: To be (context c’est un crayon)
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Key skills to practise each term
Speaking
Ask and answer simple questions for example about personal information
Repeat sentences heard and make simple adaptations to them
Use mostly accurate pronunciation
Use simple adjectives such as colours and sizes to describe things
Listening
Show they recognize words and phrases by responding appropriately
Follow simple instructions and link pictures or actions to language
When listening to stories, rhymes or songs, join in with repeated sections and identify particular phonemes and rhyming words
Reading
Recognise some familiar words and phrases in written form
Read some familiar words aloud using mostly accurate pronunciation
Learn and remember new words encountered in reading
Writing
Write some single words from memory
Use simple adjectives such as colours and sizes to describe things
Record descriptive sentences using a word bank
Grammar
Recognise the main word classes eg nouns, verbs and adjectives
Understand that nouns may have different genders and can recognize clues to identify this such as difference in articles
Have a basic understanding of the usual order of words in sentences in French
Year 5
Autumn
Asking where someone lives
Describing places in towns and cities
Understanding and giving directions
Places in school
Verb: to go
​
Spring
Vocabulary of food and drink
Expressing preferences
Numbers 40-200
Finding out how much things cost
Verb: to like
Negative sentence construction
Summer
Vocabulary of school subjects
Expressing preferences
Adjectives for description
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Key skills to practise each term
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Speaking
Take part in conversations and express simple opinions giving reasons
Adapt known complex sentences to reflect a variation in meaning
Begin to use intonation to differentiate between sentence types
Create a short piece for presentation to an audience
Listening
Gain an overall understanding of an extended spoken text which includes some familiar language, for example summarising in English the key points of
what they have heard in the target language
Identify different ways to spell key sounds and select the correct spelling of a familiar word
Reading
Read aloud and understand a short text containing mostly familiar language using fairly accurate pronunciation
Use dictionaries to extend vocabulary on a given topic and develop ability to use different strategies to work out meaning of unfamiliar words
Learn a song or poem using the written text for support
Writing
Write phrases and some simple sentences from memory and write a short text such as an email with support from a word/phase bank
Use a wide range of adjectives to describe people and things and use different verbs to describe actions
Grammar
Know how to conjugate some high frequency verbs
Understand how to make changes to an adjective in order for it to ‘agree’ with the relevant noun
Adapt sentences to form negative sentences and begin to form questions
Year 4
Autumn
Asking and answering questions about pets
Describing animals using colour and size
Verb: to have Verb: to be
Gender of nouns
Spring
Numbers 13-31
Months of the year
Asking and answering questions about birthdays
Talking about the date
Negative sentence structure
Verb: to be
Summer
​
Describing the weather
Asking where someone lives
Understanding classroom commands
Classroom objects
Question structures
Verb: to do
Key skills to practise each term
Speaking
Ask and answer a range of questions on different topic areas
Using familiar sentences as models make varied adaptations to create new sentences
Read aloud using accurate pronunciation and present a short learned piece for performance
Listening
Show understanding of a range of familiar spoken phrases, for example through acting out part of a familiar story heard
Listen to and accurately repeat particular phonemes in songs and rhymes and begin to make links to spellings
Notice that the target language may contain different phonemes and that some similar sounds may be spelt differently to English
Reading
Read a range of familiar written phrases and sentences, recognizing their meaning and reading them aloud accurately
Follow the written version of a text they are listening to
Begin to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words within a familiar text using contextual clues and other clues
Writing
Write words and short phrases from memory
Use a range of adjectives to describe things in more detail such as describing someone’s appearance
Write descriptive sentences using a model but supplying some words from memory
Grammar
Recognise a wider range of word classes including pronouns and articles and use them appropriately
Understand that adjectives may change form according to the noun they relate to and select the appropriate form
Recognise questions and negative sentences
Year 6
Autumn
Free time activities
Likes and dislikes
Question structures
Verb: to be
Verb: to like
Spring
Clothes
Description using colour and size
Agreement of adjectives
Verb: to wear
Summer
Telling the time
Talking about themselves
Translation of French text
Assessment of key French skills and
vocabulary
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Key skills to practise each term
Speaking
Engage in longer conversations seeking clarification where necessary
Create own sentences using knowledge of basic sentences
Use pronunciation and intonation effectively to accurately express meaning
Listening
Understand longer and more challenging texts on a range of topic areas, recognizing some details and opinions heard
Apply knowledge of phonemes and spelling to attempt the reading of unfamiliar words
Reading
Read aloud and understand a short text containing unfamiliar words, using accurate pronunciation
Attempt to read a range of texts independently, using different strategies to make meaning
Use vocabulary learnt from reading in different contexts and use dictionaries to find a range of words
Writing
Write a range of phrases and sentences from memory and adapt them to write sentences on a similar topic
Select appropriate adjectives to describe a range of thing, people and places and appropriate verbs to describe actions
Begin to use some adverbs
Grammar
Know how to conjugate a range of high frequency verbs
Understand how to use some adverbs in sentences
Have an awareness of similarities and differences in grammar between languages