At Joseph Hood pupils begin learning French in Reception and Year 1, using songs, rhymes and games to introduce the language. As they progress through the school they increase their vocabulary and learn to construct sentences and paragraphs in French, as well as to understand the main points in spoken and written passages. We learn the French words for numbers, colours, family members, body parts and clothes and cover a variety of conversational topics, such as our school day, the area where we live, the weather, our hobbies and likes and dislikes.

Learning a language provides lots of opportunities to build confidence and communication skills, and our emphasis is very much on making French as fun as possible. Pupils take part in songs and games and enjoy making up actions to help them remember key vocabulary. Lessons include lots of activities to get pupils talking and practise their French.

Finding out about life in French-speaking countries is an important part of the French curriculum and pupils spend time comparing their day-to-day life with children in France, and investigating other parts of the world where French is spoken.

Joseph Hood is lucky to be a very diverse school where many different languages and cultures are represented. As well as learning French we are planning a languages and cultures day to learn about and celebrate the many different backgrounds of our pupils.