MFL at MGJS

Intent

Language, spoken or otherwise, is key to communication. At Meath Green Junior School, we want our children to develop into citizens who are confident communicators with an understanding of the wonderful and diverse world around them. Through a well-planned and exciting languages curriculum, our children have the opportunity to learn French as their Modern Foreign Language.

Implementation

Why French?

France is geographically close to the United Kingdom and many children will therefore visit and explore the country. Enabling communication in French opens up a world of possibilities for children to immerse themselves into the culture and fabric of the country. In Year 6, there is the opportunity to visit France with peers on a residential trip. By this stage in Key Stage 2, children will have encountered greetings, new vocabulary and conversational French to use when they go on their exciting visit meaning they can feel an independence and pride in their communication skills. Whatever the language being learnt, the process is key to growing into culturally aware, respectful and proud communicators in our multi-cultural global society.

Our French provision starts in the Autumn term of Year 3 and journeys through the school right up to the Summer term of Year 6. Among other activities, it involves games, songs and paired conversations so children can begin to build a new confidence and enjoyment of learning a foreign language. They are gradually introduced to the written language too and develop an awareness of the phonetic structure of words, which enables them to read key vocabulary in the target language.

Impact

As the children move through the school, they build on what has been learnt and naturally become more confident, with a love for learning languages; the perfect springboard from which to dive into secondary language learning as they move on from Junior education.