French

We provide children with the chance to develop their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills whilst acquiring good pronunciation. We aim to make language learning exciting and fun through extensive use of our own materials using interactive whiteboards, ICT suites and our Foreign Language Assistante. Children progress through the years from Nursery where action songs, games and simple conversations help introduce everyday vocabulary to Year 6 where children build their vocabulary and knowledge of grammar ready for the next stage of Senior School. Children in Years 5 and 6 also have the opportunity to see a French play performed by a visiting theatre company.

Aims of the French department

• To encourage the joy of learning another language as early as possible. The children start learning French in Nursery.
• To learn French through a diversity of oral and practical activities with the addition of reading and writing as they progress through our Jolie Ronde course.
• To learn how to communicate in French, through role-play in order to gain confidence in speaking French.
• To use vocabulary appropriate to their age, knowledge and understanding of the world in a variety of interesting and authentic contexts.
• To learn about the country itself, its geography and its culture.
• To encourage the children’s awareness of their own language.

Within the Jolie Ronde Course there is a course book for each year. The books teach the children to think in a logical way and to refer to previous work. The books are a record that can be kept for reference and give the children a sense of achievement.