Intent
By the end of Year 6, we want all of our pupils to achieve the targets set out in the KS2 Programme of Study for Languages and our scheme of work is fully aligned with the 2014 National Curriculum.
We expect that during their time at Oaklands Junior the students will have acquired a range of language learning strategies for memorisation and retrieval, as well as for listening, reading and understanding. As part of our focus on the ‘5 pillars of progression for language learning’ (grammar; phonics; vocabulary; culture; songs, rhymes and stories), our aim is that all children will be able to use French phonics when speaking, listening and reading aloud. They will also be able to recognise some of the language patterns of French and how these differ or are similar to English; a full breakdown of our progressive curriculum (skills, knowledge, language) can be found in the appendices below.
At the end of Key Stage 2, our intention is that all pupils will have developed resilience in language learning, as well as an enjoyment of it, through a challenging scheme of work, which will enable them to be able to manipulate language to speak or write sentences creatively, using prior knowledge of grammar features; with and without a bilingual dictionary.
Many of these skills and ways of learning tie in particularly well with our ‘Thinking School’ philosophy as well as our ‘Oaklands’ Mindset’, for example challenge, resilience, communication, enjoyment. Furthermore, the development of these skills and learning behaviours will provide an ideal foundation for continuing the development of their language skills in Key Stage 3 and beyond. During lessons, we aim to create links between their learning on French with their understanding on English – for example in the use of grammatical terms and the development of reading, speaking, listening and writing skills.
Finally, through lessons, ‘special events’ and regular assemblies, our aspiration is that all children will leave our school with a deeper understanding of cultural similarities and differences. We feel that this is particularly pertinent following Brexit and our school’s relative lack of ethnic diversity.
Implementation
The teaching of French is undertaken on a weekly basis by either the class teacher or the other year group teacher. We use the the ‘Cave languages’ scheme of work, which is based on the Catherine Cheater scheme and it is fully aligned with the 2014 National Curriculum. We have supplemented this scheme with an intention based upon the Association for Language Learning’s ‘5 pillars of progression for language learning’ (Grammar. Phonics. Vocabulary. Culture. Songs, Rhymes and Stories).
The lesson plans are designed to be 30 minutes in length and there are follow-up activities to each lesson to increase the exposure time in a week. The lessons are designed to be progressive and build on prior learning, moving from word to sentence level over the four years. They also include ideas for support for the less able and to extend the more able.
The lesson activities are challenging, varied and interactive and develop listening, reading, speaking and writing skills with a particular focus on phonics, which the children practise regularly in lessons. Interactive resources are used in the teaching of phonics which includes the use of native French speakers sounding out the phonics sounds and words to improve pronunciation.
Furthermore, throughout the teaching of French, references are regularly made to grammatical terms and any similarities and differences with the English language (for example adjectival position, determiners, three indefinite articles in French etc.). Interactive whiteboard resources with audio support are provided; additional resources have also been purchased with regards to books, songs and rhymes. The school also has a large number of bi-lingual dictionaries which are used regularly in lessons, again another skill interlinked with the English curriculum.
The choice of vocabulary ensures exposure to all the key phonic sounds and ability to build sentences using grammatical knowledge. In Year 6, the content allows for revisiting and consolidating prior knowledge
It is expected that formative assessment in each lesson informs the planning and teaching of subsequent lesson plans. Staff meeting time has been given to this area.
A detailed breakdown of the curriculum, and what is taught in each year group, can be found in the appendices.
In the past, we had a specialist Teaching Assistant who was responsible for the delivery of French during PPA sessions. However, since her retirement, class teachers have become responsible for teaching French to their own classes, as research indicates that children make better progress when taught by their own class teacher rather than another teacher.
Beyond the classroom
Over the last five years, raising the profile of languages at Oaklands has been a key area of development, as well as the upskilling of class teachers. Since class teachers have taken over teaching French, staff meetings have been run regularly to train the staff on how to use the scheme of work and to continue to improve their confidence and pedagogy.
As well as French lessons, we have also run events such as ‘French Breakfast’, ‘French Day’ and an ‘Intercultural Understanding’ morning (where children delivered a presentation about a country with which they had familial links to their peers). These events have always been great successes in the past, both engaging pupils, parents and staff across the school. They created a positive, stimulating environment around the subject, while at the same time promoting cultural appreciation and understanding.
Over the last few years, links with Edgbarrow, our local secondary school and one of the schools within our MAT, have enabled us to give our children the opportunity to experience German and Spanish sessions. Moreover, in the recent past, we have also had visitors from China who have run Mandarin workshops with some of our children. The link between Oaklands and Edgbarrow continues to develop and discussions are currently taking place about aligning our two curriculums more.
As subject leader, Mr Lee also does regular French assemblies. These assemblies are aimed at promoting the French language as well as improving Intercultural Understanding. He also goes into other classes to read stories or deliver a whole lesson in French.
In a wider context, languages and intercultural understanding are also promoted in other areas of the curriculum. For example, children learn Russian during the Y5 ‘Space Day’ and study French artists (Seurat and Rousseau) in art. Similarly, when studying Rome and the Ancient Romans, year 4 children learn about the Italian culture and food as well as some Italian and Latin.
Subject Leadership and Monitoring
As part of his role, Mr Lee undertakes learning walks, scrutinises planning, organises pupil voice conferences and has arranged training sessions.
Impact
At the end of Key Stage 2, all pupils will have developed resilience in language learning, as well as an enjoyment of it.
During their time at Oaklands Junior the students will have acquired a range of language learning strategies for memorisation and retrieval, as well as for listening, reading and understanding.
At the end of Key Stage 2, children will be adept in the following key concepts:
Knowledge – Children will be able to: find meanings in a bi-lingual dictionary; recognise some key French phonics; explain and apply the rules of adjectival agreement with accuracy (orally and in written form).
Understanding – Children will be able to: ask and answer a variety of questions; follow and understand a song or story with more complex language; pronounce some unfamiliar words using phonic knowledge.
Communicating – Children will be able to: say a complex sentence to present own ideas using a bi-lingual dictionary; engage in a short conversation; write sentences using grammatical concepts encountered; write some complex sentences from memory.
Intercultural Understanding – Children will: have a deeper understanding of cultural similarities and differences and be able to explain a wide range of similarities and differences between francophone and anglophone countries and their languages; be more open and aware of other cultures and their positive impact.
Teachers are able to assess impact through activities which give an opportunity to assess progress and the activities are linked to the KS2 targets and the afore-mentioned key concepts.
In terms of subject leadership, impact is measured through learning walks, book scrutinies, and pupil voice conferences. As part of his subject leader role, Mr Lee completes annual learning walks, book and ‘End of unit workbook’ scrutinies, and pupil voice conferences. He also uses these to further understand the strengths and areas of development within our current provision for the teaching of French. As a result, with the Year 6s and some input from the MFL Department at Edgbarrow, a ‘Conversational French’ unit for year 6 was planned (with appropriate progression) which links to the KS3 curriculum.
Teacher confidence about their skills and knowledge in French continues to be an area that needs to be developed. Several training sessions have been held during staff meeting time in the recent past focussed on teacher’s knowledge, understanding and pronunciation as well as on improving teachers’ ability to assess and help the children to progress in their written and oral communication.
Last academic year, Mr Lee spoke to a group of 32 children during a ‘Pupil Voice Conference’, from different year groups and asked them a range of questions about French in Oaklands. A big challenge coming out of this seems to be the amount of time that we can dedicate to learning languages. Although the children recognised the value of talking in French (81%) and felt that they were making progress (60%), they commented that often didn’t enjoy talking in French ‘because it is really hard’. However, a large number of them said that ‘doing it little and more often’ would be more beneficial and ‘make it much easier’. They also highlighted how they are learning about different cultures (81%) which is one of our key ‘pillars’. An area of development is to try to increase the enjoyment of learning French as 88% stated that they only enjoyed learning French ‘sometimes’. During discussions with Mr Lee, they linked this to the fact that they often found French difficult and that they would like a more of a ‘little and often’ approach.
OFSTED visit 2022
In April 2022, OFSTED undertook an inspection and confirmed that Oaklands Junior School continues to be a good school. Some quotes from the report about curriculum include:
- Leaders are refining their ambitious curriculum for pupils. The ‘Thinking Curriculum’ focuses on developing thinking skills to enable pupils to learn something in one subject and then apply that knowledge in another.
- Learning is well planned. Themes such as Egyptians in Year 3 bring together learning in physical education, art and design and technology. This helps pupils make links, and enriches their learning experience.
- The curriculum promotes topics that capture the imagination of pupils and inspire creativity. Teachers plan topics carefully so that pupils can link different areas of learning.
Next Steps
Staff refresher training is a key focus for this academic year, to continue to develop our staff’s pedagogy and confidence in the teaching of French. Following on from the Pupil Voice Conference, Mr Lee is going to discuss at SLT and during staff meeting time, how to increase the pupil’s enjoyment of French lessons and the time spent on teaching French. Moreover, he will continue to try to develop staff confidence in teaching French.