Overview
Our languages curriculum is designed to excite and engage pupils, enabling them to become confident, curious and resilient language learners. It builds progressively over Key Stage 2 so that pupils develop secure foundations in listening, speaking, reading and writing, alongside an understanding of how languages work.
Pupils follow a single language (either French or German) from Year 3 to Year 6, allowing sustained progress and deeper understanding over time. Learning goes beyond vocabulary acquisition, placing a strong emphasis on grammatical structures, patterns and language-learning strategies so that pupils can decode, manipulate and apply language in a range of contexts.
Teaching is carefully sequenced and underpinned by spaced retrieval and interleaving, ensuring that prior learning is regularly revisited and applied in new situations. Authentic texts, spoken language and cultural materials are used frequently to develop intercultural understanding and to broaden pupils’ knowledge of the world.
Children are encouraged to notice patterns, make connections and take risks in their language use. Through regular opportunities to speak, listen, read and write, pupils grow in confidence and independence, developing the skills needed to continue language learning successfully into Key Stage 3 and beyond.
Year 3
Foundations of Language Learning
Focus: Introducing the language, sounds, and simple communication
- Greetings and introductions
- Asking and answering how you are feeling
- Numbers to 12 and age
- Classroom language and instructions
- Colours and expressing preferences
- Parts of the body
- Where the language is spoken (countries and cities)
- Cultural celebrations and traditions (e.g. Christmas, Easter, national festivals)
- Songs, rhymes and stories in the target language
Year 4
Building Sentences and Personal Expression
Focus: Applying grammar and extending communication
- Weather and presenting simple information
- Sports, hobbies and leisure activities
- Expressing likes and dislikes
- Pets and describing animals
- Numbers to 31 and dates
- Days, months and birthdays
- Family members and simple descriptions
- Using adjectives to extend sentences
- Increased focus on verb conjugation (present tense)
- Cultural comparisons linked to daily life and festivals
Year 5
Extending Language for Real Contexts
Focus: Accuracy, structure and longer spoken and written outcomes
- Alphabet and spelling strategies
- Revisiting introductions with greater detail
- Traditional stories and storytelling in the target language
- Describing places and towns; giving directions
- Food, cafés and ordering politely
- Expressing opinions with justification
- Telling the time
- Numbers beyond 31
- Developing dictionary skills and decoding strategies
- Cultural and historical understanding (e.g. national events, traditions)
Year 6
Confident Communication and Manipulation of Language
Focus: Fluency, independence and preparation for KS3
- Clothing and fashion (including a performance element)
- Describing personality and character
- Describing physical appearance
- Daily routines
- Secure use of key verbs (e.g. to be and to have)
- Using adjectives accurately and with agreement
- Creating extended spoken and written texts
- Mini-projects driven by pupil choice
- Reflection on cultural identity and global citizenship