Languages

Languages 

At Gascoigne primary school we learn French. The expectation with language education is that learning a foreign language is compulsory at Key Stage 2.  We expose children to French at KS1 where they are introduced informally to things like: numbers, colours, days of the week and greetings. Learning the French language within the curriculum provides opportunities for children to broaden their knowledge of culture and language in general. Their language skills are developed through oracy, such as songs, games, storytelling, and topics are related to real-life scenarios, such as weather and school/home life.

Children approach their learning through teamwork, pair work, and whole-class engagement. As learning a foreign language can be quite daunting for some, these learning strategies enable children to share ideas within a safe and comfortable environment; allowing children to support and encourage each other.  Learning a second language can facilitate children with skills which they can apply within other areas of the curriculum, such as speaking and listening skills, identifying differences and making comparisons within the English language and confidence building.

The French curriculum at Gascoigne Primary School is designed to incorporate the four main curriculum intent principles which are:

Ourselves

• To inspire children to work cooperatively and be supportive of each other.
• To develop children’s skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar.
• To facilitate skills that can be applied to other curriculum areas.

Our world

• To provide children an education in a language that is a good grounding for learning other languages, especially Latin languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian) and even English (over half of modern-day English vocabulary is derived from French).
• To give opportunities to learn about other cultures.
• To enable communication with other French speakers.

Our Education

• To develop language skills and prepare children for learning a language at secondary school level.
• To ensure that French is loved by pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to embark on further language studies.
• To inspire a lifelong engagement with the study of languages.

Our rights

Article 29: Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.