Bonjour and bienvenue to our MFL page!

In our school, we support the view that learning a modern foreign language is an entitlement for all pupils during their time in Key Stage 2. We are therefore committed to the principle that learning another language is appropriate for all children, whatever their ability or needs. We will also seek to develop our curriculum so that teaching a foreign language is a normal part of it. We will do this for several reasons. Firstly, we believe that many children really enjoy learning to speak another language. Secondly, we also believe that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the additional language is acquired, and an advantage of introducing a new language at primary school is that children tend to be less self-conscious about speaking aloud at this stage of their development. It is widely accepted that the early acquisition of a foreign language facilitates the learning of other foreign languages later in life.

At Harrowgate Hill Primary School, children are taught French from Year 3 to Year 6. 

We recognise that language learning, in its broadest sense, has three core strands:

• Learning to communicate (with the emphasis on oracy, i.e. listening, speaking and interacting);
• Learning about language (using literacy, i.e. reading and writing in the foreign language);
• Learn about the writing system, spelling and structure of the language;
• Learn about and comparing different cultures (inter-cultural understanding).

We teach the children to know and understand how to:

• Ask and answer questions;
• Use correct pronunciation and intonation;
• Memorise words;
• Interpret meaning;
• Understand basic grammar;
• Work in pairs and groups to communicate in the other language;
• Study life in another culture.