At Windmill Hill Academy, we believe that the learning of a language provides an invaluable cultural, educational and social experience for our pupils.
It enables them to develop essential communication skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in another language. We are also laying the foundations for the children to develop their knowledge of how languages work which will support them when learning other languages in the future. We believe that by learning another language, children develop a broader perspective on the world which encourages them to better understand their own culture and other cultures of the world.
Our main emphasis is on building confidence so that children are not afraid to have a go at communicating in French. It is important that children progress through the skills required by the National Curriculum, not just learn basic vocabulary, it is an expectation that they should be reading and writing simple sentences by Year 6.
Our MFL (French) curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in languages through weekly lessons. Children develop their love of language learning and acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary organised around topics.
Our school follows the Rigolo scheme of work, adapted to meet the needs of our children. As all children learn at different speeds and have different learning styles, we try to make French lessons as active as possible with carefully chosen songs and activities supplementing the Rigolo scheme.
Assessment
Assessment is regarded as an integral part of teaching and learning and is a continuous process. There are planned opportunities within the curriculum plan to revisit learning from the current year but also previous year groups.
It is the responsibility of the class teacher to assess all pupils in their class. This is mainly achieved through mini-plenaries, questioning, observation, end of unit tasks, marking, feedback from support staff and pupil self-assessment.
The Rigolo scheme provides assessment points throughout the year - after every unit taught. They focus on each of the four main skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
End of year assessment is reported on Itrack and features on the annual report to parents.
The monitoring of the standards of children’s learning and the quality of learning and teaching of MFL is the shared responsibility of the Senior Leadership Team and the subject leader. The work of the subject leader also involves supporting colleagues in the teaching of MFL, being informed about current developments in the subject, and providing a strategic lead and direction for the subject in the school. A named member of the school governing body is briefed to overview the teaching of the curriculum in the school.
When assessing pupils with SEND, there will be carefully planned opportunities in order for them to demonstrate what they know and are able to do, using alternative means where necessary. Where a pupil is unable to use particular types of equipment, assessment of attainment will be based on understanding of the processes used as demonstrated through oral and written responses or, where possible, through the use of alternative equipment.
Culture
We believe that by learning another language, children develop a broader perspective on the world which encourages them to better understand their own culture and other cultures of the world.
At Windmill Hill Academy, we believe that the learning of a language provides an invaluable cultural, educational and social experience for our pupils. It enables them to develop essential communication skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in another language.
Our main emphasis is on building confidence so that children are not afraid to have a go at communicating in French. It is important that children progress through the skills required by the National Curriculum, not just learn basic vocabulary, it is an expectation that they should be reading and writing simple sentences by Year 6.
Teachers will help pupils with SEND to overcome any barriers to participating and learning and make any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed to include pupils. To make lessons inclusive, teachers will anticipate what barriers to taking part and learning may pose for pupils with SEND. Some modifications or adjustments will be made or smaller steps to achieve the learning goal. Occasionally, pupils with SEND will have to work on different activities, or towards different learning intentions, from their peers.
For some activities, there may need to be a ‘parallel’ activity for pupils with SEND, so that they can work towards the same learning intentions as their peers, but in a different way. The use of technology to assist learning can removes barrier e.g. Widget, switches, text readers and speech and communicator devices. Screen filters may help with glare or using coloured backgrounds e.g. yellow background with blue script for dyslexic learners. Because the range of hardware and software is wide and continually expanding, teachers will always seek to collaborate with the SENDCo or colleagues e.g. previous teacher, on removing barriers to learning and participation for particular pupils with SEND. Pupils will also be able to advise on the technologies that suit them best.
Systems
Our French curriculum ensures that all pupils in Key Stage Two develop the key skills as set out in the national curriculum, as well as develop a love of languages and an appreciation of other cultures.
The National Curriculum aims are that all pupils:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
- 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
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Policies/key documents
- Whole School Long term horizontal curriculum map
- ADMAT Trust Skills Progression Map for MFL – French
- Knowledge and Skills organiser for French
- Rigalo Scheme of Learning
- Rigalo Assessments
- SEND Policy
All of these can be found on our website under the curriculum/policies tab.