MFL at Connor Downs Academy
Our vision
At Connor Downs Academy, we want all children to leave us at the end of KS2 with a solid foundation of linguistic skills which can be applied at KS3 and beyond as well as a love of language learning and a thirst for cultural knowledge.
Implementation
For French at Connor Downs Academy, we use the 'Rigolo' scheme of work. This helps us to ensure that children are immersed in the target language and have opportunity to practice their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. We are committed to early language learning and believe that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster and more effectively the language in question is acquired. We believe that learning a foreign language helps all pupils develop their interests and curiosity in the similarities and differences between themselves and others.
From Year 3 through to Year 6 we use 'Rigolo' scheme of work. Rigolo is fully matched to the National Curriculum and meets the requirements of the KS2 Framework for Languages.
There is a steady focus on reading, writing, speaking and listening within each lesson across all years, with speaking and writing both being taught and applied in the first years of language, where writing is often underdeveloped. Writing is progressive with labels and short closed procedures in Y3 developing into less structured sentence construction in the latter years.
By the end of Y6, most children are able to write independently, using vocabulary from the previous years. They are familiar with a range of contexts in France, i.e. shops, meeting people. Because the language repeats and builds on prior learning i.e. greetings as a unit is taught in Rigolo1 and Rigolo2, children are able retain knowledge over the long term.
