French Lead- Miss Hall and Mrs Pickford

 “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” – Charlemagne

Children learn French from Year 3 to Year 6

Intent

At Eastover Primary School, we believe that learning French fosters children’s curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. Our intent is to ignite a lifelong passion for languages, laying robust foundations that equip children with the skills, confidence, and global outlook necessary to thrive in our interconnected world. We want our pupils to view themselves as global citizens, recognising that language learning opens doors to future travel, study, and diverse career pathways.

Implementation

Our French curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure children systematically build confidence and capability across four core pillars of language learning:

• Oracy (Listening and Speaking): Sound precedes spelling. We prioritise oral fluency, encouraging children to listen to authentic spoken French, replicate accurate pronunciation, and speak in full sentences from the very beginning. We actively integrate choral speaking, chants, and songs to lower cognitive load and embed vocabulary into long-term memory.

• Literacy (Reading and Writing): As children progress, they map sounds to words, exploring phonics and basic grammatical structures (such as gender and adjective agreement). They move from recognising familiar phrases in short texts to writing their own short, meaningful paragraphs.

• Intercultural Understanding: Language is inextricably linked to culture. Children do not just learn words; they explore the customs, daily lives, geography, and traditions of France and the wider French-speaking world (la Francophonie)

Oracy and French

We hold high expectations for linguistic precision and vocal confidence in French:

• Phonics-First Approach: We explicitly teach French phonics, ensuring children understand how letter combinations create specific sounds (e.g., the difference between the French ‘ou’ and ‘u’).

• Precision and Full Sentences: We discourage passive, one-word responses. If a child is asked how they are doing, they are supported to respond in a full sentence.

• A Culture of Celebrated Mistakes: Speaking a new language requires courage. We cultivate a classroom environment where playing with sounds, making mistakes, and self-correcting are celebrated as a natural part of becoming a linguist.

Impact

We want our pupils to leave Eastover with a secure bank of foundational vocabulary, an intuitive grasp of core grammar, and above all, the communicative confidence to speak, listen, and engage with a different culture creatively and respectfully.