Modern Foreign Languages (French)

At Barrowford St Thomas CE Primary School, we have decided to teach French. French is only taught in Key Stage 2.

Throughout KS2, we aim to provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching at key stage 3. Our aim is to enable 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.

The focus of study in French will be on practical communication.

Our pupils will be taught to:

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• 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
• 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
• 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.

Scheme of Work

At Barrowford St Thomas, we follow the CUSP curriculum for French (introduced from September 2024).

CUSP French is taught from Years 3 – 6. Each year group has 6 blocks of 5 weeks teaching. Additional weeks in the academic year can be used for consolidation, revisiting or enrichment. The curriculum is built to be delivered in 30 – 40 minutes of study per week. This can be organised as two shorter sessions (e.g. 2 x 15 – 20 minutes) or one longer lesson.

CUSP French has been purposefully built around the principles of evidence-led practice. This is to ensure that there is a focus on high-quality development of children as linguists. Core areas of study are revisited throughout the curriculum. Each unit of study focuses on phonics, grammatical structures, reading, writing, oracy and vocabulary. Fully resourced, CUSP French is both teacher facing and pupil facing, building consistency in how French is taught across the school and ensuring that teachers,
including those with no prior knowledge of French, have the subject knowledge required to teach the content.
 

CUSP French has been designed to serve young linguists in the modern world. Key areas of focus have been deliberately selected to ensure that pupils are equipped with knowledge and language that will serve them in engaging with important and useful topics such as the environment, wellbeing and travel.

The curriculum focuses not just on vocabulary acquisition but also on the building blocks of learning a new language. Clear structures and learning routines underpin CUSP French. This allows pupils (and teachers) to direct their cognitive attention to the core content in each block. As with all CUSP subjects, Knowledge Notes are used to support instruction and the revisiting of new concepts. This strong focus on cognitive science provides the framework for pupils to deepen and broaden their knowledge of the French language and become confident, inspired linguists.

The CUSP French curriculum provides teachers with teaching slides, subject knowledge explainer videos, recorded resources and CPD videos to support staff with implementation and delivery. The decision to fully resource CUSP French was made to allow teachers to focus their time on developing their knowledge of the content. The explainer videos have been recorded by a native French speaker to give teachers an authentic experience of improving their own French speaking.

CUSP French long-term sequence
There is a significant focus on revisiting throughout the curriculum with the aim of pupils mastering key knowledge that can be built on as they move through the programme of study.

What will pupils know and be able to do at key points of the curriculum?
Each block includes study of key MFL linguistic concepts and previously learnt language concepts to enable pupils to build on known themes and vocabulary. The core content overview outlines the substantive and disciplinary knowledge and key vocabulary that pupils will learn throughout each block of study. This includes the vocabulary, phonics and grammatical constructs that pupils will learn, as well as the opportunities to develop their reading, writing and oracy skills.

Teachers will note that there is limited emphasis on pupils’ writing of French and a greater focus on reading, oracy and laying strong linguistic foundations. This is because pupils need to hear, see and say whole, correctly spelt words frequently before they are asked to apply these to written tasks. As pupils become more confident with curriculum content, teachers may choose to use the flexible content weeks
to further develop pupils’ written French.

The temporary subject leader for French is Mr O Haines (headteacher)

CUSP French long-term sequence
There is a significant focus on revisiting throughout the curriculum with the aim of pupils mastering key knowledge that can be built on as they move through the programme of study.