Modern Foreign Languages

French is the main taught language at Aldrington. Children learn French each week throughout Key Stage 2. The focus is on practical communication and conversation, alongside the development of vocabulary and grammatical structures. This is made relevant using familiar situations and routines in the children's lives. A balance is provided of both spoken and written language, and supported by a range of written and aural resources.

Topics covered include general social language, such as greeting people and talking about yourself and your family, as well as useful language for everyday activities in the country, such as buying food from shops or restaurants.

Children at Aldrington are very enthusiastic language learners. We have been represented wonderfully by children over the past few years in the uTalk Junior Language Challenge, a national competition which gives entrants a chance to have fun learning a new language through an online platform. So far entrants have learned Spanish, French and Japanese. In 2019, we were delighted especially to see Isabella in Year 4, who gained a place in the Regional Finals of the uTalk Junior Language Challenge. She was among the top 208 scorers nationwide of the total of over 2,300 pupils who were competing in the uTalk JLC - congratulations to her!

All children at Aldrington enjoy communicating in another language and learning about different cultures. We are enriched by children who bring additional language and cultural awareness. World Languages Day is celebrated every year in September, and the French-speaking world is celebrated in March. To further support this awareness, our ‘Language of the Month’ gives children across the school the opportunity to explore other languages and learn basic vocabulary within the classroom, sometimes with guest children from other classes who speak those languages! So far this year we have been learning Arabic, Polish, Spanish and Japanese.

MFL Policy 

Progression of Skills in MFL