Subject Leader - Vicky Zárate
"French is taught by a teacher with specialist language skills and the sound foundation given to pupils was acknowledged by the secondary school to which most transfer." (Ofsted, May 2016)
It is well known that exposing children to other languages at an early age helps their cognative development.
At Icknield we believe that by learning a foreign language from Year 3, children can also understand English grammar and its vocabulary more deeply, while at the same time being exposed to a new culture.
Our children are very excited about learning Spanish in Years 3 and 4 and French in Years 5 and 6 through games, songs and mini conversations.
French or Spanish are taught once a week.
It is important for the children to learn both French and Spanish as they may be expected to learn either in Year 7 at the local secondary school, and we want to make sure that they start with every advantage.
The following outlines the main objectives taught in each year group for Foreign Languages:
Pupils should be taught to:
YouTube has a large selection of video clips in both Spanish and French. The majority of these are songs and rhymes in the target language, which are perfect for practising the language which your child has been learning in class. There are also video clips of people reading familiar stories in French or Spanish which children can enjoy listening to and following along with. Check with your class teacher which topics your child is presently learning so that you can support them more effectively.