Primary Languages Statement of Intent

At Stalyhill, the intention of our primary languages curriculum is for our pupils to develop an interest in, and thirst for, learning other languages. We aim to introduce the learning of the French language and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. We believe that pupils learn more effectively if they are having fun, and aim to maximise enjoyment through rich and varied experiences involving games, songs, stories and rhymes. We want children to acquire a range of language learning strategies and to develop resilience, as well as enjoyment, through a challenging curriculum. We also recognise that through learning another language, pupils can develop a greater understanding of, and proficiency in, their own language and we aim to maximise opportunities to reinforce this.

Our intention is for pupils to gain a good grasp of the key sounds of the French language and their corresponding graphemes, and to be able to apply this knowledge when listening, speaking and reading aloud. French phonics are therefore taught explicitly in every lesson. We hope they will recognise some of the language patterns of French and how these differ from, or are similar to, English. We want our pupils to be able to manipulate language to speak or write sentences creatively using their knowledge of grammar, and to confidently use a bi-lingual dictionary to decode unfamiliar vocabulary.

It is our intention to ensure that by the end of our pupils’ primary education, they will have acquired an understanding of both spoken and written French. We hope they will have the confidence to speak in French with others and know how important other languages can be in their future. In short, we hope to lay the foundations for future language learning.