French
At the Roche School, French is taught from Nursery to Year 6 with the aim of enabling the children to reach a useful level of competence and to promote their interest and curiosity about French culture in the world.
We want learning languages to be exciting and we stress the links between French and other areas of the curriculum. We aim to highlight this during our annual French Week, where the school immerses itself in French language and culture throughout the curriculum.
From Reception to Year 1, the children are taught with a focus on songs and games, where structures are reinforced through the use of mime and gestures to help retain high frequency words and phrases. From Year 2, they begin greater exposure to the written form although the emphasis is still on listening and speaking skills.
In the Upper School, the structures of the language are reinforced further and the children are exposed to some basic grammar rules alongside interactive language learning topics. They start a verb book which allows them to build up a bank of verbs to help them develop their sentences. In Year 5 & 6, we continue to work on sentence building, using prepositions and simple present tense verbs in a variety of contexts. The children become familiar with using a dictionary.
French Week
During our annual French Week in March the whole school immerses itself in French language and culture across the curriculum. The school takes part in a delicious French breakfast and baguette lunch. After French assembly, organised by Year 6, all classes take part in French storytelling workshops with a French theatre group.
Year 6 travels to France for a 2 day trip to Boulogne-Sur-Mer. The visit includes a trip to a crêperie for lunch, a chocolate factory and a traditional bakery where the children learn how to make croissants and bake traditional bread. We also visit local shops and do a fascinating Town Trail along the Medieval Ramparts.
