Our Primary Language Vision (Intent)

At St Joseph’s all KS2 pupils will be given an opportunity to learn French during weekly lessons by Madame Birtwistle. They will be taught to express their ideas and thoughts in that language, to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. The learning of a foreign language will also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read a range of literature from that language.

At St Joseph’s we aim:

1. To teach pupils to understand and respond to spoken and written foreign language from a variety of authentic sources

2. To enable pupils 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 as they progress through school

3. To teach pupils how to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt

4. To discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

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Our Primary Language Practice (Implementation)

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At St Joseph’s we believe that Primary Languages is effective when:

1. The focus of study in modern languages is on practical communication and teaching provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language.

2. Teaching enables pupils to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary.

3. Pupils are given opportunities to listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.

4. There are good opportunities for them to explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.

5. Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*

6. Pupils are taught how to speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures

7. Teachers ensure that pupils develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*

8. Appropriate opportunities are provided for pupils to present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences

9. Pupils learn how to read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing

10. Pupils are taught how to 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

11. Pupils learn how to 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.

12. Pupils 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.

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Our Primary Language Outcomes (Impact)

At St Joseph’s French teaching will provide the foundation for learning of further languages later in their education. It will provide an opening to other nations, cultures, foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.  Assessments from each year group are collected and used to assess progression throughout the school at the end of each term. Children have regular opportunities to revisit and consolidate prior skills and knowledge to help them become confident linguists.