At Hilltop First School, French is taught from year 1 to year 4 by a specialist native French teacher who delivers one weekly session as part of our PPA cover programme. We use the Kapow Primary French scheme of work as a starting point for our termly topics and lessons.  The curriculum is structured as a two year repeated cycle with both year groups within each Key Stage enjoying the same lessons. We made the decision to cover the same topics across both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 allowing the children to encounter vocabulary twice over 4 years. Working with familiar vocabulary at Key Stage 2 level allows pupils to engage with the language at a deeper, more challenging level.

In year 1 and 2, we spend a lot of time wearing our language detective hats; becoming used to hearing French being spoken, recognising familiar sounds and practicing less familiar ones. We draw parallels between the many languages already spoken by Hilltop children and set a base knowledge and appetite for learning the more challenging KS2 French. We talk about what it’s like to live in a French speaking country and look at the lives of French children through videos and books. The teacher reads familiar stories in French.

In year 3 and 4 we build upon the KS1 foundation. The Kapow curriculum features a mixture of speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, language learning strategies and cultural references. It provides a solid language foundation that will be needed as pupils continue to learn French at their next school and perhaps up to GCSE or A level. We continue to include cultural content from the French speaking world.

Double page spreads at the end of each unit are used to celebrate and consolidate pupil’s knowledge. This form of assessment allow pupils to creatively explain their learning through the use of writing and images. It guides pupils to reflect on their learning, knowledge and skills while helping teachers to see what has been committed to pupil's long term memory.