French Day in Robinson Class

Robinson class was all about colours! The children that visited us had the chance to sing, read and spell in French learning all of the colours, interactive games and puzzles! 

French Day - Sendak Class

During our French day, we visited the French Cafe and asked for food, we learnt different colours and played bingo, we sung heads, shoulders, knees and toes in French and we also learnt all about clothing!  Thank you for taking part! 

French Day Potter Class

We have walked around school visiting different classes and learning all things France. We have learnt about the body parts, different types of food and tasted them, colours, clothes and how to count in French and we even played bingo.

Parlez vous Francais?

Sendak class have been researching interesting facts about France. Did you know it's illegal to throw out burnt food in France? The children worked in pairs to do their research and found many interesting facts.   

Bonjour mon amie!

School was transformed into a sea of red, white and blue this morning to celebrate French day. The children visited each room to try a different french themed activity - everything from food tasting, singing to naming animals. It was a fabulous morning and the children really enjoyed it. 

Pelé class enjoyed some games and singing in French with Mrs Halloran. We played a colour game and a numbers game to recap on some of the French we have learnt so far. The children thoroughly enjoy the games ‘pamplemousse’ and bingo as well as singing head, shoulders, knees and toes.. in French!

Basic Greetings

Today Pèle Class learnt all about France and other French speaking countries. We learnt the basic greetings such as 'Bonjour!' 'ça va?' 'ça va bein?' 'Au revoir' We also learnt how to ask what is your name and how to respond to this in French. 'Je m'appelle...' The children enjoyed holding a conversation with each other in French!

Traditional Rhymes, Songs and Stories

In Y3 and Y4 the children have used traditional tales and nursery rhymes to develop their knowledge.They explored the patterns and sounds of the language and showed they understood by responding and joining in collectively.  

Phonic Focus

During lessons the children looked at the phonemes that make up the new vocabulary of the lesson.  They were able to see how sounds that were familiar to them in English were pronounced differently in French and how the addition of an accent changed the sound of a letter.

Multi Cultural Week - MFL French

During this special themed week in school, the focus in MFL has been to raise the children's awareness of Francophile countries, thus ensuring that they understand the extent to which French is spoken across the world.

In Y6 for example, the children read the poem 'Homme de Couleur' by Jérôme Ruillier (adapted from an original by Léopold Sédar Senghor).Senghor was a poet and writer, but was perhaps more well known for his presidency of the country of Sénègal.  The poem compares the similarities and differences of people of colour with white people.  It links colour to events and emotions throughout life.  The children have produced their own 'hommes de couleur'.

Y5/6 - Building a variety of sentences

Peregrine class children researched French artists (KS2 curriculum requires that "pupils should be taught about great artists, architects and designers").  They then used a writing frame to select appropriate phrases and choose correct verb endings.  Some children substituted proper nouns for pronouns.

European Day of Languages 2019

As part of our KS2 curriculum and to link with this special day, children from Kestrel class have been learning about 'Les Pays Francophone'.  They studied a world map to help them understand that French is spoken not only in France, but also in countries which are spread across the continents.

MFL Day - A Day to Celebrate France

St. Mary's held their first MFL Day in Summer Term to celebrate and educate the children about France.  With the kind assistance of local supermarkets Asda, Morrisons and Iceland, we offered the children a French breakfast.  

Each class then spent the day discovering French landmarks, researching French culture and food, practising their learnt language skills, playing Loto and trying to emulate the famous artists Matisse, Monet and Seurat.

Our photographs show what a great time the children had, the day brought their learning to life and celebrated the language and culture of our focus MFL.

Bastille Day

The children in Year 6 have been learning about Bastille Day, the national day of France.  They learnt about the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and how the people of France rebelled against the powers controlling the country.  This is in preparation for our own special day, celebrating France at St. Mary's School, which takes place on July 2nd.

Using Verbs (Aimer - to like)

Ringgold Class have been learning about different ways to say 'I Like'.  They have already used 'j'aime' (I like) and now are extending their skills to use the other parts of the verb. The children used given key vocabulary to complete the sentences.  Some children challenged themselves by writing their own sentences, sometimes even adding a simple conjunction.  Well Done!

Developing written skills

Following on from the work on colours and body parts.  The children are now using the vocabulary they have learnt to say, in written sentences.  They are starting to recognise the written French and thinking about the correct word order.

Recognising Body Parts

Year 2 and 3 have been learning to recognise the parts of the face and body.  They played 'Simon dit' (Simon Says) to help them learn the words.  They joined in with a familiar song, the French version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes using actions to support learning.  Finally they looked at the written words and labelled a drawing of the face.

Starting to use adjectives - Extra Terrestrial Monsters

Ringgold Class (Y4/5) have started to look at adjectives.  They have learnt about how they have to be altered depending on the gender of the accompanying noun.  They are learning that sometimes the position of the adjective changes.  To accompany their topic 'Earthlings' some of the children have designed their own extra terrestrial and added a simple description.

Months and Dates

Years 2 and 3 have been learning about days of the week and months of the year.  They have learnt simple songs to help them remember the vocabulary.  They have ordered the months of the year and can now recognise their own birthday months.  The children made party invitations using this new vocabulary.

Skill Up!

During our weekly 'Skill Up!' sessions, the children have the opportunity to participate in French in a fun, sometimes more artistic way.  Preparing for learning about how Christmas is celebrated in France, the children have started to make vocabulary cards.  Using a snowman template, they made a concertina of festive vocabulary, which they inserted to make an attractive card.  For a fun finale they each made a 'chatterbox' to use when practising the new vocabulary at home.

Year 2 - Greetings

In MFL, Year 2/3 have been learning different language to greet each other.  Justin has made a colourful card to introduce himself.

European Day of Languages 2018

The European Day of Languages is celebrated each year on 26th September.  This year, to raise the children's awareness of our place in Europe, we have given each child in Ringgold and Van Gogh classes a 'child-friendly', poster size map of Europe.  Please share these colourful resources with your child and take the opportunity to look at our photographs of EDOL activities.

Skill Up - French!

This week has seen us begin our Skill Up sessions on Fridays.  Children from the Key Stage 2 classes chose to come together to gain a wider appreciation of French.  During our sessions we will be playing games like Bingo and Happy Families.  We hope to take the opportunity to learn songs, discover something about French culture and generally make French fun to learn.  Take a look at our first set of photos.  The children had a great time playing animal bingo.

Year 4 Writing - Carnival of the Animals

A selection of Year 4 writing.  Children have written sentences and included adjectives to describe colour or characteristics of their animals.

Year 6 Writing

Examples of sentence work to complement En Ville.  Children have been making statements and comparisons about their town nowadays and from a period in the past.

French Club 2018

Spring 1 has seen the start of our after school MFL Club.  Here you can see the pupils meeting our tutor, Madame Montanaro, for the first time. 

Week 1 winner - Summer Dean of Lovelace Class, who received the medal for super participation.

Week 2 winner - Keeley Robinson, who showed great number knowledge.

Week 3 winner - Harvey Witter who is gaining much more confidence with the spoken language.

Week 4 winner - Harry Wright for brilliant military style alphabet knowledge.

Week 5 winner - Kali Oakley for showing greater confidence with French.

Week 6 winner - Sky Hogan for brilliant understanding and recall of French body parts.

Week 7 winner - Izzi-Belle Rogers for speedy recognition and recall of new French vocabulary.

Building more complex sentences

Year 5 children begin to recognise word order and include connectives to build both simple and more complex sentences.  This activity took place in our topic Les Planètes

Working with larger numbers

Following on from our En Ville unit, Y6 children have been introduced to larger numbers.  They have worked together to order them correctly.  Played dominoes to help them recognise which words matched the digits and played speaking games to practise the new vocabulary.

Coming Soon - Spring 2018 - MFL After School Club

Beginning in January 2018 we are pleased to offer an After School Club for modern languages.  In partnership with the Karen Rich Foundation, KS2 children will be able to build on the language learnt in class in our weekly French club.

Cross Curricular MFL

Y5 topic for Spring 2018 is Earthlings.  We took the opportunity to make cross curricular links with MFL as the Y5 Unit is The Planets.

The children worked on writing simple, and then more complex sentences.  They have included correctly placed adjectives (colour, size, temperature, movement and distance from the sun) and simple conjunctions.

Following a Recipe

Year 5 have been looking at sentence building and paying particular attention to word order.  Using scrambled recipes they put the instructions for Christmas biscuits in chronological order and identified imperative verbs.

Fiction and Non-Fiction Texts

Giving the children opportunities to enjoy both fiction and non-fiction texts.  

Using dual language books and familiar story texts.

Intercultural Understanding

Learning about the location of countries throughout the world where the French language is spoken.

Comparing cultures

Sampling produce from France, the children begin to look at similarities and differences between our two countries. 

Reading and understanding a range of familiar written phrases

Matching phrases and short sentences to pictures, using memory games.

Easter - Pâques

Year 4 children learning about how another culture celebrates Easter and comparing this with our own.

Looking at French Christmas Traditions and Comparing Cultures

The children look at the differing traditions and celebrations in France and compare them to our own.  They learn that St. Nicolas and Père Fouettard play an important role delivering their 'gifts' to French children.  They also learn about the dates that are important in French culture during the Christmas period, including La St. Sylvestre and Le Reveillon.

Quel temps fait-il?  (What is the weather like?)

Children make use of props, picture flashcards and vocabulary cards to reinforce their language learning about the weather.