Intent: Why do we teach French?
We teach French as our Modern Foreign Language in Key Stage Two
- 300 million people speak French across 5 continents
- Second most widely learned language after English
- Fifth most widely spoken language in the world
- France receives 87 million tourists each year
- French is the official language of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, UNESCO and the National Olympic Committee
- France is a country of deep cultural capital - with regards to fashion, food, art, literature and music
- French is easier for an English speaker to learn as English is derived from French and German, so there are many cognates
- Having mastered French, learning Spanish, Italian and Romanian is much easier
- French is an analytical language that structures thought and develops critical thinking - which ties into our Golden Thread of Enquiry
- French is often described as the language of love. Love is our core value: everything we do is done with love.
Intended impact:
The ultimate goal is for the children to be able to understand French vocabulary and grammatical structure in order to be able to listen, converse, read and write in French. In addition to this, we want the children to gain French cultural capital and an appreciation for the language's history.
Northampton is twinned with Poitiers
As there is an added layer of language acquisition in the study of French, we must prioritise the knowledge that our children need in order to be able to converse, read and write in French. This is so that they are ready for the next chapter in their language-learning journey when they move on to secondary school.