Why do we teach French? Why do we teach French in the way we do?	How do we teach French? What does this look like?
By the time children leave our school what will they be able to do?	Web links

At Holy Cross, our aim is to develop an interest in and thirst for learning other languages. We strive to embed the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing in French but also show children how to spot patterns in languages, which will support them in learning any foreign language in the future.


We have developed a personalised curriculum, adapted from the Early Start language learning scheme, which is tailored towards our children’s needs:

• short thirty-minute sessions taught by the class teachers so that children are able to have small segments of learning to digest and practise;
• a curriculum focused on the foundational knowledge of French, understanding the basic grammar and how to count and have simple conversations;
• learning language through songs, stories and role play, enabling all children to experience language learning in a way that they feel comfortable with;
• a gradual increase in written work from Year 3 to Year 6, to enable children to practise their listening, speaking and understanding of language before they apply it in written form.

A spiral curriculum approach provides children with the opportunity to revisit and extend subject knowledge, applying their learning in a new context. New skills are introduced gradually to ensure that children have secured them before moving on to new topics.


Learning an additional language will offer children the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. It is hoped that children will foster a love of language and a desire to further learning beyond the classroom and in their future.



What's life like in France?

Revision of topics

French skills