French at Hadrian Academy
Achieving Excellence Together, we use Language Angels https://languageangels.com/ to structure our curriculum and lesson delivery at Hadrian Academy to ensure our staff all feel confident and competent when leading learning in French. This scheme of work and resources guarantee we offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes.
Language Angels is designed for non-specialists to use and all the words are spoken by native speakers with a click of the mouse, enabling teachers and children to learn simultaneously. Some children feel self-conscious about having a go at pronouncing some of the sounds that we don’t find in English or in their own home language, and it helps tremendously that staff model improving their pronunciation during lessons alongside the children.
There are four key language learning skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing and these are taught in all units and in an age-appropriate way across KS2.
Not every unit is the same
Some lessons/units (e.g. J’apprends le français) have more of a focus on cultural knowledge and will include a lot of discussion in English as well.
Some units relate directly to other curriculum areas (e.g. L’Ancienne Histoire de la Grande Bretagne) or are based on a story (e.g. Petit Chaperon Rouge) - these contain more unknown vocabulary and the focus is on listening to a text being read and being detectives to figure out what we can understand from what we do know.
Lessons and tracking progress in French
- French is taught weekly in 30/45 minute lessons in Years 3-5 and in blocks in Year 6.
- Each unit has 6 lessons containing a mix of reading, writing, listening and speaking activities in each unit. In each unit, lesson 6 is an assessment.
- At the beginning of each unit, a vocabulary list is given to each child (stored at the front of their French folder) to help guide them through the journey of that unit.
- All adapted and completed worksheets are kept in these folders.
- At the end of the unit, the children must complete the assessment and this should also be kept in their folders. We self-mark these with the children to ensure low stakes quizzing.
- We are developing a class markbook across the school (2025-26 onwards) and teachers will store quiz scores here centrally from 2026-2027, to enable attainment to be tracked and challenged.
Ambition in French!
To enhance our Language Angels lessons, we use BBC Bitesize KS2 French and also draw upon other teachers’ expertise in using Word Wall games for review and practise.
We also look for real life uses for vocabulary and skills learned e.g. Year 4 learn about ice cream flavours, then at the end of term, have an ice cream shop in class. If they ask well and are understood, they are given the ice cream of their choice!
In our French lessons at Hadrian Academy, the most important skill throughout is that the children have as many chances as possible to hear and speak French. We give our children opportunities to echo, chorus as a class, speak to their partners, whisper, shout, slow down, speed up etc. It’s all good practice!