As St Nic’s linguists and communicators we speak, we listen and we connect
At St Nicholas C of E Primary School, we believe that learning a modern foreign language provides children with an important window into the wider world. Through the teaching of French, we aim to develop pupils’ curiosity about different languages and cultures while fostering a sense of global understanding, belonging and respect for others. Our French curriculum supports our vision to Aim High, Be Courageous and Show Love by encouraging children to embrace new challenges, celebrate diversity and develop confidence in communicating with others.
We have chosen to teach French as our Modern Foreign Language because it provides children with a strong foundation for future language learning and prepares them for the next stage of their education. Through engaging and enjoyable lessons, pupils develop the essential skills of listening, speaking and reading, while gradually building confidence in writing in another language.
Learning French also helps to enrich children's cultural capital and supports the St Nic’s Journey pillars, particularly Arts and Culture. Pupils learn about French-speaking countries, traditions and ways of life, helping them to understand and appreciate similarities and differences between cultures. Through this, children develop respect, empathy and an understanding of their role as responsible global citizens.
At St Nicholas, we want every child to leave primary school with a positive attitude towards language learning, an appreciation of different cultures and the confidence to continue their language journey. By developing communication skills and cultural understanding, we aim to inspire pupils to engage with the wider world and become confident, compassionate and globally minded citizens.
The National Curriculum for MFL aims to ensure that all Key Stage 2 pupils:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic source.
- Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
