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Modern Foreign Languages

At Stopsley, we teach the language 'French'. We use a teaching resource called 'Twinkl' to support us in our teaching and assessing of French. It is taught from years 3-6. In years 3, 4 and 5, there are six units, allowing for one unit per half-term. In year 6, there are four units which are spread across the three terms. Depending on what is being taught in the unit, it may be more beneficial for the children to spend a whole day learning one unit rather than having six short lessons over a half-term period.

All staff ensure that both substantive and disciplinary knowledge are explicitly taught and blended in teaching and planning as both are necessary for progress in learning. By substantive knowledge we mean the key content of each unit, for example key vocabulary to describe yourself physically. By disciplinary knowledge, we mean the understanding of the basic grammar appropriate to the language being learnt for it to be used effectively. For example; using a relevant and logical adjective related to physical description when constructing a sentence about what something looks like(and where it is placed in the sentence).

During our French teaching, the children cover a range of national curriculum aims. These are based on the children learning not just how to speak in another language but how to write and read as well (our progression of skills document below breaks down the learning in each year group). Our  lessons and units are planned to enable pupils to constantly revisit and build on prior knowledge, with each year group’s knowledge building upon the previous learning. Recall is continuous so that knowledge is steadily built.