To read the DfE’s Programmes of Study for Languages at Key Stage 2, please click here.
Oak Farm Junior School has a well-established language learning ethos in place. Besides the obvious benefits of speaking another language in our increasingly global society, we believe that learning another language makes pupils’ minds stronger and more flexible.
All pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 have a French lesson every week, taught by a specialist French teacher. Lessons contain a combination of all of the four essential skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Most lessons include elements of phonics, grammar, authentic resources (including songs and stories) and role-play. French lessons are often linked to other areas of the curriculum. As pupils progress throughout the school, the emphasis on written work develops. By exploring the way the French language works, pupils develop their knowledge and appreciation of languages in general. We strive to ensure that pupils develop their language learning strategies, in hope that pupils will leave Oak Farm Junior School feeling enthusiastic and well-equipped to take on whichever foreign language they have the opportunity to learn at secondary school and beyond.
As fluency and spontaneity feature in the Programmes of Study, our use of the target language in lessons increases as pupils progress throughout the school, with some units of our Year 6 Scheme of Work employing the CLIL approach (Content and Language Integrated Learning). For example, pupils learn about events in France during World War 2 through lessons taught solely in French.
Pupils enrich their intercultural awareness with regular access to authentic Francophone resources. This is aided hugely by the long-standing link we have with our partner school, École Frédéric Joliot Curie, in Achères, France. This involves exchanging letters, work, videos and, more recently, school-to-school residential visits.
Useful websites you can use at home to practise French
Euro Club Schools
BabelZone (Pupils can see Miss Renaudon for the school’s username and password)
Global Citizenship and International School Award
At Oak Farm Junior School, we like to celebrate all languages, not only French! As well as our weekly after-school French Club, we currently run a Japanese Club for some pupils, led by one of our parents. We also have a Language of the Month, allowing pupils to practise some basic phrases with their teacher during the register. Our most recent celebration for European Day of Languages involved a whole-school World Languages Day, involving twelve different teacher-led sessions in a variety of languages and over twenty visiting parents sharing their knowledge of languages with us.
Our international ethos is very important to us at Oak Farm Junior School. As well as our partner school in France, we also have a link with a school in Uganda. We very much enjoy sharing letters with pupils there. Our history, geography and art curriculum allow for pupils’ global awareness to be enriched through topics such as: Europe, Ancient Greeks, UK (which is compared to other locations in French lessons), Local Area (which is compared to another locality such as our partner school’s town in French lessons), Volcanoes & Earthquakes (also explored in a parallel French unit), South America, The Mayans, Ancient Egypt, Food and Farming, Climate around the World and Rivers. These topics allow for a considerable amount of learning about other parts of the world and appreciation of their cultures.
We are extremely proud to have held full International School Award status since 2011. To read the school’s International Policy, please click here.