Why do we learn modern foreign languages?
French Curriculum Intent
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. The French curriculum at Ark Victoria Academy fosters pupils’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. Pupils are enabled to express their ideas and thoughts in French and to understand and respond to French speakers, both in speech and in writing. The French curriculum at Ark Victoria Academy provides plentiful opportunities for pupils to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great French literature in its original language. In addition to broadening pupils’ cultural horizons, learning French provides the foundation for pupils to pursue learning further languages, equipping them to study and work in other countries.
Aims of Our French Curriculum:
The Ark Victoria Academy French curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:
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understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
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speak in French 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
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can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
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discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Our cohesive and thoughtfully sequenced curriculum supports pupils to become secure in the building blocks of the French language – namely phonics, vocabulary and grammar – so that pupils are able to achieve these aims and flourish in their learning of French.
(adapted from National Curriculum, 2014)
Year 3
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Introduction to the language: Vowel phonics, Numbers 1-12, Asking and giving age, Key phonic sounds, Nouns for pencil case objects, Gender differentiation, j'ai | Continuation of song, poems, games and a practical and interactive winter project: il/elle est (and negatives), il y a, Christmas vocabulary, SSCs practice via: Rhyming stories, Songs, Tongue twisters |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Development of skills: Animals, Colours, Gender, Articles (definite/indefinite), Plurals | Building on pair and group work, pattern finding, performance and creativity: Adjectives (position/agreement), il/elle est, ils sont, il y a revisited, negative revisited, aussi, mais |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Memory enhancement: Retell Very Hungry Caterpillar) in French, Review of numbers, Days of the week | Performance: Fruits, Food, Performance of story, in French, for assembly |
All Year 3 subjects Next Year 3 Subject - Physical Education
Year 4
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
---|---|
Focus on celebrations: Numbers 1-31, Dates, Asking and giving birthday, Celebrations language | Cultural insight into Francophone countries and development of key vocabulary: Christmas vocabulary, Create invitations with new language, Epiphany in France, Songs, Stories, videos |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Project work providing foundation of language acquisition this term: Shapes, Prepositions of place, Art project on Matisse, Verbs to describe art creations | Cultural insight into French artists and development of French to desribe work they meet: Body parts, Use of body parts vocabulary to describe work of other famous Francophone artists |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Memory enhancement: Family members, Retell 'Les quatres amis', J'ai un/une.. qui s'appelle, Apply grammar/vocab in context of pets | Performance: Adjectives for describing personality, Adjectives for describing physical description, Key verbs in 3rd person singular and plural, (a / est / ont / sont), Performance of story, in French, for assembly |
All Year 4 subjects Next Year 4 Subject - Physical Education
Year 5
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
---|---|
Focus on numbers, food and drink: Calculations based on 5 times table, Asking for and giving time, Extension of food and drink vocabulary, songs and stories | Focus on numbers, food and drink: Different meals of day and what is eaten, Comparison with French eating habits, Giving opinions of different food and drink, Complete a food diary in French, Videos |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Sports and preferences: Sports, Opinions (aimer+infinitive), Use phonics knowledge to pronounce cognates and other vocabulary | Sports and preferences: Practise using a dictionary and wordreference.com, Describing sports (je fais/c'est/il y a), Use phonics knowledge to pronounce cognates and other vocabulary |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Musical preferences: Instruments, Review of usage of wordreference.com, Review of usage of dictionary, Opinions on music | Confidence building as pupils adopt independent learning skills, sharing knowledge and speaking aloud: Review of opinions on music, Reasons/justifications (parce que), Creation of song/rap about food, sports or music |
All Year 5 subjects Next Year 5 Subject - Physical Education
Year 6
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
---|---|
Cultural and geographical knowledge of France: Weather, Seasons, Climate in different locations, French poem about Autumn with performance in small groups | La Francophonie, my region: Geography of France, Key geographical features in French, Countries that border France, Flags, Describing flags in French, with colours, ER verb parler - say which languages they speak, Talk about where they live and where they come from |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Memory skills: Expand on discussing details of where they and others live, Practise key structures 'c'est' and 'ce n'est pas', Town vocabulary, Building sentences with Il y a (revisit), Il n'y a pas de | Poem creation and French festivals: Learn French poem about Paris, Create own poem, Extension of usage of '-er' regular verbs, Learn about key French fesivals |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Review of KS2 vocabulary and grammar to prepare students for transition to Y7: Revision and consolidation of essential KS2 language | Hands on project/performance: Projects (e.g. cafe/penpals/fashion show) |
All Year 6 subjects Next Year 6 Subject - Physical Education
Year 7
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Daily life: numbers, age, birthdays, family members, key verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ | Daily life: family member, personality, physical description, key verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Places: places to live, rooms of the house, prepositions, opinions, evening activities | Places: direction, methods of transport, the verb ‘aller’ |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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School: school subjects, opinions, uniform, facilities in school | chool: school rules, school routine, daily routine |
All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - Physical Education
Year 8
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Free time: hobbies, activities, weather, key verbs ‘aller’, ‘faire’, ‘jouer | Free time: evening activities, film, music, clothes, prices, numbers |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
---|---|
Holidays: places, tourist attractions, holiday activities and accommodation | Holiday: Eating in a café, planning a trip to Marseille |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Future: school subjects, jobs, university | Future: jobs, future plans, studying in ‘La réunion’ |
All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - Physical Education
Year 9
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Identity: family, personality, healthy lifestyle, celebrations | Identity: body parts, illnesses and injury, the perfect tense |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Where I live: places, environmental problems, natural catastrophes, | Where I live: social issues, charities, |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Free time: TV, film, social media, celebrities, technology | Free time: Revision and exam |
All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Physical Education
Year 10
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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My town: places in town, what there is/isn’t, prepositions, directions, describing your town | My town: advantages and disadvantages, plans for where you would like to/ are going to live in the future |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Holidays: locations, holiday activities, weather, types of accommodation, facilities | Holidays: describing past/future holidays, transport, buying items, going to a restaurant |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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School: subject preferences, facilities, extracurricular activities, school in France | School: subject preferences, facilities, extracurricular activities, school in France |
All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Physical Education
Year 11
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Work and future plans: jobs, activities that provide pocket money, work experience, intentions for the future, applying for jobs | Environment and global issues: environmental issues, what we could/should do to protect the environment, ethical shopping, volunteering |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Environment and global issues: environmental issues, what we could/should do to protect the environment, ethical shopping, volunteering | Revision |
Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Revision/exam |
All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Physical Education