An Aspirational Curriculum:

We believe that each child at Rickleton has the potential to be successful in any area of curricular or extra-curricular life now and for their future. The curriculum they access must be the driver of this in offering them deep learning and inspirational experiences in a broad range of areas. Working out where their talents lie and the things they enjoy are a huge factor in this and we expect that all children give their all in all lessons.

In September 2023, we introduced our 'aspirational concepts' to support children and staff to understand the key skills and knowledge which they are building when studying a subject and where this could lead them in their future. We want our children to be driven by their future possibilities and see each lesson as a stepping stone towards this.

A Clear and Well planned Curriculum:

Subject leaders have worked hard to ensure that our curriculum fulfills not only national expectations but also the learning necessary to allow a child in Rickleton, in the North East of England, to be successful.

By carefully considering how knowledge and skills progress, ensuring that learning carefully builds on and consolidates prior knowledge, children have the best chance to feel confident and successful in their studies and to retain their learning as they move forward in their education.

The documents below show what we want children to achieve via the subject and how we plan to make this happen (commonly known as Intent, Implementation and Impact). They also show how topics and and skills are planned to give pupils a deep knowledge and hopefully a passion for the subject to support their future aspirations.

Learning a foreign language

Our curriculum is designed to teach pupils the basic 'life skills' vocabulary of French across KS2. This is revisited each year so children consolidate and remember this basic language.

The resources below can help your child practise and retain some of these basics, such as greeting.

There are also several fun games which children can play on line designed to help them store these vital pieces of language.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z39d7ty

Nursery

During Nursery’s ‘Around the World’ learning, they looked at France. They particularly enjoyed exploring the landmarks in France, such as the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre and Mont Blanc. Snack time was French café themed- the children ate cheese, bread, croissants and pain au chocolat. It all looked very delicious! The children learned how to say hello and goodbye in French and enjoyed their snacks with some French music. C'était fantastique!

Let us introduce ourselves

From Year 3, children learn French as planned lessons. Our focus is to give pupils the basic skills to communicate if they ever visited France and also to prepare them for transition to our local secondary schools, who all deliver French as their first MFL choice. Below, you can see children in different year groups working on the basic skill of introducing themselves.

Year 3

In order to introduce themselves, the children in Year 3 have been learning how to ask and answer questions such as ‘comment t’appelles-tu?’ (what is your name?) and ‘comment ça va?’ (how are you?). Here are some videos of the children working in pairs to practise using the new vocabulary.

Year 4

To start the year, the children in Year 4 have been recapping how to greet someone and how to introduce themselves in French. Here are some videos of the children working with a partner to practise this.

Year 5

To start the year, the children in Year 5 have been recapping how to ask and answer questions to introduce themselves in French. Here are some videos of the children answering questions within conversations about themselves.

Year 6

To start the year, the children in Year 6 have been recapping how to ask and answer questions to introduce themselves in French. Here are some videos of the children introducing themselves and answering questions within conversations about themselves.