French

Teaching and Learning French at Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School.

At Holy Ghost, all children start having language lessons from Year 1. 

This year, they have all started French as a new language. The pupils have weekly French lessons with a specialist teacher, Madame Leroy, who is a native speaker. The subject is taught in a fun and engaging manner throughout.

Our vision is that our children can communicate efficiently with people from a French-speaking background, as well as develop a sound understanding and respect of cultural diversity. We want the children to feel confident to speak, listen, read and write in French, setting them up for success in further language-learning at secondary school. They discover French culture as well as traditions from the French-speaking world. Learning French helps them reflect on their own language and develop a better understanding of grammar in general.

At Key Stage 1, the lessons are focussed on the listening and speaking skills through the learning of French songs, rhymes, games and stories. At Key Stage 2, the children start developing their French reading and writing skills and with time, they will become more confident in performing longer role-plays and producing detailed pieces of writing such as a postcard introducing themselves and their family in French, or a leaflet describing where they live. The children will build on their French vocabulary and grammar every year in order to learn how to express themselves and share opinions.

This year, as the children are new to French, they are starting with the basics before moving on to a variety of different topics, e.g. home, family, sports…They will soon increase their French vocabulary and start learning about grammar too. For our French native speakers, who are many at Holy Ghost, Madame Leroy provides them with differentiated tasks at their level so they can develop their own French skills too.

Curriculum Overview for French