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10 Go On a French Adventure!
Start date: Sep 1, 2016, End date: Aug 31, 2018 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Due to changes in our local high school, we are now required to teach French as opposed to Spanish. We do not have expertise in French, our whole staff is lacking in confidence so our provision is suffering. We want staff to develop skills and knowledge to teach French to their own classes and need of a boost to language skills and cultural knowledge to make the teaching of French more interesting, fun, creative and appropriate to our pupils’ individual needs.We need to make French teaching sustainable. At the moment, pupils are not getting French on a regular basis so are not able to make progress. We want French to be seen as just as important as any other subject and teach it more frequently, embed it in daily routines and link it to other subjects.We want to raise the profile of languages and bring French to life with celebrations involving parents and families. We are aware that language learning can have very positive effects on children’s understanding of their own language and help to reinforce literacy concepts that pupils may have missed first time round and need to develop our understanding of what we can do in practice.We do not have a link school in France so it is a priority for us to find one and look for ways to have our pupils work together and get a real understanding of other people’s lives and different countries and cultures, leading to many more joint, international activities.We want to find ideas and strategies that will help us to support low attainers and pupils with EAL, and ensure that all staff are offered quality CPD and are equipped with the skills they need to do their job well, making them more employable in the future. We also want to develop the management competencies of our languages coordinator to lead the subject competently, support colleagues and develop networks of support.We intend to send 10 members of staff on a structured immersive training course in France to develop their skills and confidence in language, culture and the methodology of teaching French effectively, and forge links with a partner school in France. We would also like two of these to take part in a follow up course which will have more of a focus on subject management. We will include a wide range of staff, from early years through to upper key stage 2. The courses chosen will allow staff to build their language knowledge through intensive language classes. It will also focus on elements of culture that will be interesting to our learners so that we are able to make our teaching more fun and appealing and appropriate to our pupils needs. We will have the opportunity to find resources and authentic materials that will be appropriate for our pupils and develop lots of new teaching ideas.The confidence that will result from these courses will mean that staff are able to teach French to their own classes and we will have a sustainable model of teaching French in our school. We will recognise the participants’ learning through using Europass Languages Passport so that they have formal recognition of what they have done. The courses will also give our staff the skills, knowledge, ideas and resources necessary to create some truly inspiring cultural activities in our school, including our proposed week-long celebration. This will lead to a sense of excitement within the school and community and more involvement of families.We will make links with real children in France and our children will regularly communicate with French children and work together on joint activities. We will develop our provision to the point where we can achieve the ‘Languages Charter Mark’. Our MFL coordinator will develop their management competencies.There will be a great impact across schools. We will feel more capable to fulfil the statutory teaching of languages at KS2, as well as being able to introduce language teaching at KS1 and EYFS. This would enable us to deliver an improved French curriculum throughout the school. There will be an impact on literacy and staff will be better equipped to teach children with EAL and those who are lower attainers.The impact of the project will spread beyond our own school. All participants will be involved in dissemination activities involving the development of training courses to pass on learning outcomes to others. Training will be run both within our own school, and also offered to other schools within our cluster. In this way, we can spread the impact of the project and share the benefits more widely.There will also be a great impact on the French schools we will visit as they will also benefit linguistically and culturally through more contact with native speakers and will also assimilate new ideas.There will be an impact on other schools too. Within our cluster of schools and city wide, we will share ideas, resources and develop training in languages for school staff.

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