Building on Meanwood’s vision and values and the National Curriculum for MFL, we aim to provide an exceptional MFL education that embraces our school vision. The basic skills of language learning and intercultural understanding are vital for the life opportunities for our children.

Open Hearts – We create a cooperative learning environment, encouraging children to work together, share ideas and learn collaboratively. 

Open Minds – We inspire our children to strive for excellence in MFL, supporting them to develop confidence in French through regular practice and authentic French experiences. We celebrate their achievements and encourage them to reach their full potential. 

Open Arms – We foster empathy in our pupils, encouraging them to develop a broader awareness of other languages and countries as well as an appreciation of different cultures and experiences, and how these might compare or differ to their own. We promote an inclusive environment where all learners feel valued and supported in their MFL journey.

Intent

At Meanwood, we are dedicated to nurturing our pupil’s awareness and understanding of foreign languages, to promote the early development of linguistic competence and provide an opening to other cultures. By integrating the school vision into our MFL curriculum, we aim to create a learning environment that promotes collaboration, celebrates achievement and fosters empathy and respect. We strive to inspire our pupils to become lifelong learners who are confident in their linguistic abilities, capable of applying language learning strategies and cultural awareness to future learning, regardless of the target language, and equipped with the skills necessary for success in their future endeavours as members of a multi-cultural society. Through our commitment to excellence, inclusivity and holistic development, we aim to empower our pupils to make a positive impact in their communities and the wider world. 

Implementation

Our curriculum is designed to progressively develop language skills in French and all classes have a timetabled weekly French lesson with a native French speaker. Through a carefully considered MFL curriculum, we aim to foster children’s curiosity and develop their confidence to explore other countries, languages and cultures. Children are given the opportunity to experience and enjoy a broad spectrum of French culture: joining in playground games and sharing a range of songs, rhymes and stories as well as learning about and participating in some traditions and celebrations through the year and thinking about how these may differ from their own practices.

In EYFS and KS1, children develop their knowledge of French sounds and vocabulary, with an emphasis on pronunciation; they will begin by learning traditional games, rhymes and songs which will then extend to the explicit learning of vocabulary and grammar into KS2.  In KS2, children use their knowledge of French with growing confidence, both to understand what they hear and read, and to express themselves orally and writing. They learn to express themselves verbally with increasing confidence: asking and answering questions and communicating their ideas with others both orally and in written form. To develop this, children are explicitly taught about the writing system, grammatical and spelling structures in French.  Children are given a variety of texts to read and real-life contexts to which they can apply their knowledge. As a result, as children progress through the school, they will develop a deeper understanding of the multi-lingual world in which they live. 

Throughout our MFL curriculum, children are explicitly taught specific language learning strategies; this knowledge will support future learning, irrespective of target language to enable children to progress into KS3, equipped with the confidence and skills to succeed.

Within our lessons we include the following aspects:

• a multi-sensory and kinaesthetic approach to teaching, i.e. we try to introduce a physical element, miming, songs or games to new learning, that serve to reinforce memory.
• Lessons are largely active and will be based around current cultural event/celebration or authentic texts.
• ‘I do’ (modelled) approach, exemplifying the primary skill of the lesson, ensuring clarity, good pronunciation and comprehension. ‘We do’ (guided), students collaborating in pairs, groups, or as a class, facilitating peer learning and interaction. Finally, ‘you do’ (independent), allowing children to independently apply their newfound knowledge to oral, aural, reading or written tasks. This cycle continues until the targeted learning objective is achieved.
• Call and response of new vocabulary and open-ended questioning, encouraging a variety of possible responses.
• Opportunities for reading and writing in French are embedded throughout the curriculum. Scaffolding, model texts and writing frames are available for all pupils at this stage of the lesson to ensure their success, fostering an inclusive learning environment for all.
• No child left behind approach.

Impact

At Meanwood our aim is keep all the children working together at broadly the same place by taking small steps in learning.

Formative Assessment

The children’s progress is assessed using regular formative assessment in lessons through questioning, regular retrieval practice, assessment of work in books and feedback. Before each block of learning, the children complete a pre-knowledge check based on the previous learning. This allows teachers to teach any necessary connected knowledge prior to the starting the new block of work to support the needs of pupils in their classes.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment in French takes place at the end of every term in line with our school’s schedule. This takes the form of assessments based on the Endpoints for that term. Assessments are analysed to help identify vulnerable individuals who may need further consolidation and/or intervention and to ensure children and classes are on track and progressing effectively.

Tracking Pupil Progress

In French children are tracked in multiple ways:

• Individual progress is reported to parents through two termly progress reports and an end of year report 
• Teacher assessment data Tracking

Staff Development

Training needs are identified as a result of whole school monitoring and evaluation, performance management and through self-analysis. The subject leader is keen to share best practice and disseminate up-to-date initiatives to staff via planned CPD and development time. This will ensure the subject is constantly evolving to meet the demands of curriculum expectations.

Monitoring

The subject leader, SLT and Governors all play a role in the monitoring of MFL at Meanwood. Regular monitoring via learning walks, book looks and pupil/staff voice feedback ensures the subject is constantly being reviewed and regulated to ensure the best learning opportunities for all.