Coxhoe Primary School

Believe and Achieve

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"Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom."

French

What we say about Languages at Coxhoe Primary

Our MFL Lead, Miss Watkins, says..

Bonjour, je m'appelle Mademoiselle Watkins.

Becoming Modern Foreign Language lead this year is very exciting. I love the possible opportunities that languages give children and the cultural experiences it can provide for them. France is the most visited country in the world and our local secondary schools, teach French so we therefore give the children at Coxhoe the chance to become confident French speakers in their weekly lessons. Although French is the main language taught within our curriculum, we have a Spanish club for those who have a keen interest in languages.

Our Year 6 MFL Ambassadors (India, James J, Annie) say…

Hello, we are the French ambassadors and we love French because it brings us joy, with lots of fun activities. You should learn French because if you ever go to France, you will be able to communicate confidently. French has always been one of our favourite subjects because we think having the skill the learn another language will give us lots more opportunities. 

 

Children from across the school say…

‘We have lots of opportunities to listen to French and repeat it’

‘Learning how to tell the time in French has been my favourite thing to do’

‘‘I like learning a different languages and I hope to go to France soon so I can use the language’

‘It is good being able to be make a link between English words and French words and seeing if they are similar or different’

Curriculum Intent

It is our intent at Coxhoe Primary School to provide all of our children with a high-quality education in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), which develops their love of learning about other languages and cultures. Our current MFL taught is French, however we strive to provide children with opportunities to experience a range of other languages.  It is our intention to ensure that by the end of our children’s primary education, they have acquired an understanding of both spoken and written French, confidence to speak in French with others and know how important other languages can be in their future.

MFL Policy

MFL Intent, Implementation and Impact

Curriculum Enrichment 

  • Lessons and activities with our secondary school experts 
  • Visits from staff in our partner primary school in French
  • Activities with children in our partner primary school in 
  • Spanish club 
  • Promoting events in the local area

Long Term Plan

Long Term Plan French 

Useful Websites

https://www.thefrenchexperiment.com/stories/

French story videos told by a native French speaker (with English subtitles)

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=french

Topmarks - search for a range of different French games and resources

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2french.html

Crickweb - range of different matching games to be used in the classroom or individually

Spanish Club

Hola! Here are some useful links to songs and games we have been using in Spanish club for you to try at home.

Welcome song - hola, hola, como estas? Estoy muy bien gracias!

Colours song - listen to the colours in Spanish and English

Colours pairs game - can you match up all of the pairs?

Story time in Spanish - watch and listen to the Very Hungry Caterpillar in Spanish

Languages at Coxhoe 2023-24

Spring 2024

Autumn 2023

Autumn 2022

  • Durham Christmas Festival goes International 2022

    As part of Durham Christmas Festival, on Saturday 3 December, they will be sharing stories from other countries at Clayport library. The stories will be read in their original language and English with information about Christmas traditions in those countries. There will also be a range of craft activities to try. All activities are FREE.

    ​10am: La légende du Sapin, by Thierry Chapeau, read in French
    11am: Snegurochka, The Snow Maiden, a traditional tale read in Russian
    12pm: La Magia de la Navidad, read in Spanish
    2pm: Pip und Posy und der Weihnachtsbaum, by Axel Scheffler, read in German
    3pm: La renne di Babbo Natale, read in Italian

 

2021 2022

French teachers visit from our partner school in Beauvais

We welcomed two teachers from our new partner school école Jaques. Prevert in Beauvais, Northern France when returned from October half term. Marie and Guillaume spent time in classrooms with the children observing and joining in with lessons and talking about their school and life in France. They also met with our school council and were impressed by their enthusiasm, explanations of life in our school and excellent questions from the children. Here are some examples of the fantastic questions they asked;

What is life like in France?

What are the main differences between your school and ours?

We have different rewards in school, what are the rewards at your school?

Do you get to go on school trips?

What do the children call you at school? Monsieur/Madame?

Is there a secondary school near your primary school? How old are children when they go to secondary school?

 

Marie and Guillaume brought some books written in solely in French that we are excited to use in our French lessons and met with Mrs Bartle and Mrs Fahey to arrange projects for the children to work on in partnership between the schools. We discussed the possibility of regular virtual meet ups between the children in Year 6 in both schools and are very excited to begin our first project - a Christmas card and decoration exchange between schools. Watch this space for more updates to follow.

European Christmas Decoration Exchange

Coxhoe were chosen as one of only 10 schools in the North East to take part in a European Christmas decoration exchange with 26 different schools in 11 European countries.

A huge thank you to all children who completed the holiday homework challenge to tell us all about how they celebrate Christmas in their houses. They were all fantastic and have been included in the information packs along with a wool wrapped Christmas tree made by children in Class 5 using willow from our conservation area.

Our European Christmas tree grew more beautiful each day in December and was a popular topic of conversation over lunch. Class 5 were very excited when the post was delivered each day to see what each decoration would be like and where it had come from.