Bonjour! My name is Miss Palmer and I lead French here at Joseph Turner Primary School.

I love being the leader of French at Joseph Turner Primary School because it allows me to help shape a vibrant, joyful language experience that truly belongs to our school community. Seeing the children in our school our grow in confidence as they try out new words, celebrate French culture, and surprise themselves with what they can achieve is endlessly rewarding. I enjoy finding creative ways to weave French into everyday school life from counting, songs and role‑play to themed days and cross‑curricular links. This helps to spark excitement across the classroom. Leading French, also gives me the chance to support colleagues, share ideas and build a curriculum that reflects the warmth, inclusivity, and ambition of Joseph Turner Primary. It’s a privilege to help our pupils see themselves as enthusiastic, curious learners and that’s why I genuinely love this role.

French at Joseph Turner Primary School

At Joseph Turner, we believe that learning French opens doors to the wider world and helps our pupils grow into confident, culturally aware young citizens. Our vision is to provide a vibrant, inclusive French curriculum that not only builds strong language skills but also reflects the rich demographic character of our local community.

Tipton is a diverse and growing town, with 6.9% of households having no resident who speaks English as a main language. This linguistic diversity strengthens our commitment to providing high-quality language education that supports communication, cultural understanding, and mutual respect. By introducing French at primary level, we aim to nurture pupils who value different languages, including those spoken in their own neighbourhood and appreciate the global connections that shape modern life. Our curriculum celebrates the cultural and ethnic diversity that is characteristic of schools across Tipton and Sandwell, helping children broaden their world view and recognise themselves as part of a multicultural society.

It also empowers children to take pride in their heritage, celebrate the surrounding diversity, and step forward as curious, respectful learners ready to engage with the wider world.

Vision 

At Joseph Turner Primary, we are proud to offer French as our modern foreign language. In Key Stage 2, children take part in weekly lessons where they learn the key fundamentals of French in a fun, engaging and accessible way. Through speaking, reading and writing activities, pupils build both confidence and enjoyment as they explore the language.

Intent 

At Joseph Turner Primary School, our French curriculum aims to spark pupils’ curiosity and broaden their understanding of the world around them. Through the ‘Language Angels’ scheme, we deliver a rich, ambitious, and engaging programme of study that introduces children to French through a wide range of meaningful and enjoyable topics. Learning is carefully connected to other curriculum areas, allowing pupils to make cross-curricular links while building confidently on their prior knowledge.

Our curriculum is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure it remains dynamic, relevant, and aligned with all national DfE expectations for modern foreign languages. Clear long-term and short-term planning supports consistent progression in language skills throughout Key Stage 2, enabling children to develop knowledge year upon year.

We teach all four essential language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing alongside age-appropriate grammar. This equips pupils to apply their learning in varied contexts and strengthens the foundations for further language study. Beyond language skills, our intent is to cultivate genuine enthusiasm and curiosity about French, helping pupils find enjoyment and confidence in their lessons.

Learning a second language allows children to explore connections between language and identity, develop a deeper appreciation of different cultures, and build greater awareness of themselves and others. Ultimately, we aim for every pupil to leave Joseph Turner Primary School as a motivated and confident life-long language learner.

Implementation – What is taught and how is it taught?

At Joseph Turner Primary School, pupils develop their French skills through well‑planned, weekly 45‑minute lessons taught using the Language Angels Scheme of Work. Learning is carefully sequenced so that children progressively acquire, apply, and revisit a growing bank of vocabulary, language structures, and grammatical knowledge. Topics are age‑appropriate and build logically from simple foundations to increasingly complex, fluent, and authentic language use.

Cross‑curricular links help embed French within broader learning, making it meaningful and relevant. Lessons are designed to offer appropriate challenge for all learners, ensuring consistent progression while fostering confidence and enthusiasm for the subject. Children learn actively through songs, rhymes, stories, actions, grammar investigations, video clips, sentence‑building activities, dictionary skills and a range of creative tasks that deepen and secure their understanding.

A whole‑school unit planner provides a clear teaching map, setting out what each year group will learn and when. Year groups follow a structured sequence of units across the academic year to ensure substantial progress. Each unit contains six fully planned lessons with defined learning objectives.

Across all units and lessons:

• Clear objectives and success criteria guide teaching and learning.
• Interactive whiteboard resources support rich speaking and listening opportunities.
• Differentiated challenges with three levels of stretch ensure all learners can access and extend their skills.
• Reading and writing activities are embedded throughout, with extended tasks available to challenge native speakers and high-ability pupils.
• A specific grammar focus is included in every unit and increases in complexity from Early Language to Intermediate and Progressive units.
• Extended writing tasks encourage children to reuse and recycle previously taught language, strengthening recall, fluency, and accuracy over time.

Units are progressive within themselves, with each lesson building on the knowledge and skills taught previously. As pupils move through a unit, their language becomes more confident, complex, and accurate. Progress in the four key skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing is assessed at regular intervals throughout the year to provide clear reference points for attainment and development.

To further support learning beyond the classroom, pupils also have access to interactive French games and activities through the Language Angels home learning website. This allows children to consolidate and embed vocabulary and structures independently, reinforcing classroom learning in a fun and engaging way.

Impact

The impact of our French curriculum is that pupils develop increasing confidence, enthusiasm and independence as language learners. Through the structured progression of the Language Angels scheme, children regularly revisit, recycle and apply previously taught vocabulary and grammar. This continuous revision enables them to consolidate learning, make meaningful connections between units, and strengthen long‑term retention.

As pupils progress through Key Stage 2, they demonstrate a growing ability to listen to, speak, read and write in French with accuracy and increasing fluency. They develop an appreciation for a variety of French texts and begin to recognise how language structures work, supporting them in becoming competent, reflective learners.

Self-assessment tools embedded within each unit allow children to understand their own learning goals and recognise their personal progress. This helps pupils take ownership of their language-learning journey and identify next steps with confidence. Regular opportunities for assessment, combined with ongoing teacher feedback, ensure that attainment and progress are monitored effectively across all four language skills.

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils leave Joseph Turner Primary School with a strong foundation in French, a positive attitude towards learning languages, and the curiosity to continue their language-learning journey in future years.

To spark early interest, we also introduce simple French vocabulary in EYFS and Key Stage 1 through our “word of the term” initiative. This early exposure helps children become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of the language long before they begin formal lessons.

Throughout their time learning French, pupils are assessed in line with our school policy, ensuring they make good progress and feel proud of what they can achieve. I am passionate about giving every child the opportunity to discover a love of languages. Miss Palmer.