"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13)

Intent- How our curriculum is structured and organised

The King’s school learners are offered a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious curriculum to inspire them to become life-long language learners.

The curriculum is planned to teach the key language learning skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar. These are covered in all year groups through a wide variety of topics and themes, often linked to other aspects of their curriculum.

The curriculum is taught through the ‘Kapow’ scheme of work and resources, beginning in KS2. Units of work are chosen specifically for year groups to ensure the appropriate level and challenge are being met, as well as linking to other class topics and cross-curricular themes. The Kapow scheme of work aims to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. Each year group covers a French celebration. The lessons give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning further languages.

The curriculum and progression maps (see below) ensure skills and knowledge are introduced and developed consistently throughout KS2, allowing teachers to review the previous learning and support and/ or challenge accordingly. Children build upon previous knowledge gradually, as lessons continue to recycle, revise and consolidate previously learnt language whilst building on all language skills.

Implementation - How our curriculum is taught

Foreign Language learning begins in the Early Years through our ‘Language of the Month’, which is embedded from Reception through to Year 2. A different language is explored each month or half term by saying the register, days of the week, counting, playing games and singing in that language. Parents who speak the ‘Language of the Month’ are welcomed in to school to share stories, cultural traditions or teach some vocabulary in the classroom. This is to begin promoting a love of languages and to celebrate the many cultures and languages that are spoken by members of our school community. In years 3-6 French is taught weekly.

At the King’s School, there are many bilingual learners; these children are also challenged with extended reading and writing tasks as well as given the opportunity to become a teaching assistant during French lessons. Additionally, there are opportunities to learn other languages through extra-curricular clubs.

Kapow

Kapow is designed with three knowledge strands that run throughout the units with knowledge building cumulatively. These are: phonics, vocabulary and grammar.

This knowledge can then be applied within our skills strands, which also run throughout each unit in the scheme:

• Language comprehension (listening and reading)
• Language production (speaking and writing)

Pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. There are balances opportunities for communication in both spoken and written French, although in year 3 the focus is on developing oral skills, before incorporating written French in year 4 and beyond.

The scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key skills and vocabulary revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Cross-curricular links and included throughout the units, allowing children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of learning.

Kapow focuses on developing ‘language detective skills’ – developing an understanding of French grammar and key vocabulary. Pronunciation is emphasised early on using Mouth Mechanics videos to support pupils with phoneme pronunciation in French.

Assessment at the end of units is against key learning objectives – these are underpinned by the 12 DfE attainment targets and is tracked by the Foreign Languages Lead, through robust monitoring, to ensure teaching is targeted and appropriate moving forward.

Impact- A cohesive learning journey

Our aim is that pupils will leave school equipped with a range of language-learning skills to enable them to study French, or any other language with confidence at Key Stage 3. The expected impact of following Kapow is that children will:

• Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations and express an opinion.
• Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases and short texts.
• Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
• Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.
• Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
• Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.
• Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French, English and other languages.
• Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.

Please scroll down to the end of the page to view:  
•    The King’s School Modern Foreign Language Key Overview
•    The King’s School Modern Foreign Language Skills and Progression map