Modern Foreign Language (French)
Subject Lead: Mrs C Croton
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
Nelson Mandela
The learning of Modern Foreign Languages at Leasowes provides a foundation for children to develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing in French. MFL teaching offers an insight into a different culture, promotes curiosity and gives children the skills required for future language learning.
At Leasowes, the MFL curriculum follows the National Curriculum, which provides a framework for objectives to be taught. This is supplemented by the CGP scheme SALUT! We believe that our MFL curriculum is ambitious and this is reflected in the curriculum design. Teachers have planned bespoke lesson sequences using the National Curriculum objectives as well as lesson overviews, resources and skills grids from CGP SALUT!, to ensure we teach a coherent curriculum that is progressive and rigorous throughout the key stage.
As you can see on our MFL curriculum overview, children develop practical communication skills as lesson content links to children’s interests and real-life experiences to ensure their learning is engaging and relevant. A variety of teaching and pedagogical approaches are used, along with an end of unit, half-termly assessment. In MFL, skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing another language are developed and assessed through a multi-sensory approach such as rhymes, songs and repetition. CGP SALUT! further provides modelled pronunciations, games and stories. Regular retrieval practice ensures children are confident communicators as they progress through the MFL curriculum.
When children who study MFL at Leasowes enter Key Stage 3, they are already equipped with French knowledge, skills, vocabulary and grammar, that they can continue to develop, or apply to different languages. This ensures that in the future they are able to communicate effectively in a multi-lingual world. As confident and fluent communicators, they should aspire to use their language in other countries or the future world of work.
