Home Page


At Chartham, we aim to promote the enjoyment of learning a language as well as fostering an interest in finding out about the world and its diversity.  We enjoy celebrating cultural differences and similarities.  We also aim to prepare children for further language learning when they go to secondary school and beyond!  Children should be able to communicate for practical reasons but should also be encouraged to enjoy authentic texts, rhymes and songs to help them understand and appreciate different ways of thinking and different customs.   We believe that learning a language should increase a child's confidence and allow them to express themselves to others and to understand the views of others therefore extending their social and cultural knowledge and their communication skills.


By developing all four key skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) by the end of Year 6, the children should be ready to embrace further language study and be more prepared to explore the world.


Our chosen language is French which we learn from The Early Years onwards.  We also introduce children to other languages and cultures through our topic work.   We aim to make our lessons fun and engaging through the use of games, songs, rhymes, stories and kinaesthetic activities, as well as developing reading and writing skills planned around whole school / year group topics and themes and the interests of the children so that the content is relevant to them. We encourage the children to notice patterns, cognates and links to other languages including the root of a word.  The teaching of SPaG and phonics in French lessons also helps the children in their literacy lessons. This in turn should help them to develop their own linguistic skills generally.   We are lucky enough to have access to Language Angels. This is an online teaching resource that teachers can use in class and that students can access at home completing tasks set by their teachers. All year groups follow set topics on Language Angels each term. This provides consistency and a build up of ongoing learning as the children move to the next year group. 


We believe that learning a language should be accessible to all whilst still challenging enough for each child to reach their potential. By introducing French from The Early Years, children are at an equal footing at the start of their language learning journey and can develop as a year group with a positive and resilient approach to languages.   

Progression of skills
