French - Mrs Blackett

Bienvenue and welcome to French with Madame Blackett. We have lots of fun in our French lessons here at GPS.

Click the + sign next to each month, below,  to see our fabulous French learning journey across 2023-24 - we hope you enjoy it - Bon Voyage!

July

Year 6 have proved themselves to be excellent linguists, adapting extremely well to learning German in order to prepare many of them for transition to Southmoor Academy. Year 5 were thrilled to receive responses from their penpals in France. They have also had the opportunity to take part in a live video link with our partner school. Year 4 have been using their iPads to learn how to use an online dictionary to decode a story so it makes sense. Year 3 have used their knowledge of writing sentences about Paris to do the same about London. Year 2 finished their topic about ice-creams by asking for an ice cream in French and enjoying it in the sunshine – as you can see they enjoyed this! Finally, year 1 have made farm animal masks to introduce themselves in French. Mrs Blackett.

June

We held our annual French day this month. This is an event which is always eagerly anticipated by our young linguists. This year, it proved the perfect opportunity to use the Olympic Games as a focus with Paris due to be the host city in a matter of weeks. Our French visitor Nathalie Paris introduced the children to handball, a popular sport in France. Miss Daley used Belgian artist Ben Heine to inspire our children to add the Olympic mascots ‘les Phryges’ to Parisian venues for the Games. Mrs Russell talked in assembly about the Olympic values and how important they are in life as well as sport. Finally, Madame Blackett took each class on a tour of France with the Olympic flame. This was a chance to complete a sporting challenge and learn something about some of the cities the real Olympic flame will pass through. What an amazing day we all had. The Olympic spirit really shone through.

May

In May, we have had a lot of fun learning French. Year 1 have been listening to a story about a dog who doesn’t bark, but makes farm animal noises instead. This was a great way to consolidate their learning. Year 2 finished off their work on animals in a famous piece of music by making an animal mask and introducing themselves as that animal. Year 3 have been practising asking and answering key questions to say their name, age and which country they live in. Year 4 have been learning how to say what their favourite animal is. They can also ask someone else which is their favourite. Year 5 are learning how to ask someone where they are going and to respond to the same question. Finally, year 6 have discovered that Paris is the venue for the 2024 Olympic Games. They have learnt a little about the sports which will feature and the venues involved. What a busy month! Mrs Blackett.

April

Since our return to school after Easter, our children in Key Stages 1 and 2 have been very busy in their French lessons. In year 1, we have been imagining that we are down on the farm. We have been learning the names of farm animals and singing along to the French version of Old McDonald. Year 2 are using the classical music pieces written by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, entitled ‘The Carnival of the Animals’, as a stimulus to learn the names of the animals depicted in the music. Year 3 have been working hard to improve their French listening skills, listening to a native speaker talking about Paris and what there is to see. Year 4 are putting their ICT skills to good use by creating a simple book on the Book Creator app. The final part of this task is to record themselves reading their sentences aloud. They will draw on their phonic knowledge to help them to pronounce the vocabulary accurately. Year 5 have listened to a native speaker reading a letter aloud. This has enabled them to write to their pen pals at our partner school in France describing where they live. Finally, year 6 have been using the PicCollage app to describe their classroom. The vocabulary they are using and the grammar they are learning will help them to continue their language learning journeys into their secondary education. 

March

During March, schools across the North East of England have been invited to take part in a festival of language-learning and culture. This gives us an opportunity to focus on something exciting and new. Children from year 1 to year 6 have been learning about the languages and culture of Africa in a special workshop led by Madame Blackett who was also keen to learn something new. We have learned about some of the countries in West Africa. Our children were surprised to discover how many different languages are spoken there; in Nigeria alone more than 500 languages are spoken. In addition, our year 6 German club have been learning to sing the song ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams in German. They have worked very hard on this and we are hoping that our singing will be included in a version of the song from many schools in several different languages.

February

Our Y6 children have enjoyed revisiting a favourite song and recognising their birth month. Year 5 were very excited to receive letters back from their new pen pals in France and they are looking forward to replying, in French this time. Year 4 have been learning how to describe animals using colours. In year 3, we have been practising making a statement into a question using intonation. We have been using the names of capital cities to help us do this. Year 2 have been introduced to the months of the year and seasons. They have created a simple calendar to help them to remember the new words. Finally, year 1 have had a lovely introduction to French. Madame Blackett has been very impressed by their enthusiasm and wonderful pronunciation.

January

Miss Tose’s class have very much enjoyed their first experience of French. They began by telling Madame Blackett about other languages they may speak at home. They were very keen to say any French words they already knew. Their favourite part of the lesson was meeting their new French friend Thierry Tricolore. He only speaks French so they loved saying ‘Bonjour’ and telling him their name in a short French sentence. Everyone designed their own version of a puppet and showed them to the class. To finish off, Norman our puppet who doesn’t speak French came to learn some new words. He often gets it wrong but the children were very good at correcting him. Bravo les enfants!

December

Our children find it very interesting to learn about the way Christmas is celebrated by children in other parts of the world. In year 2, we came across Berthe the witch again and her Christmas story taught us about the importance of Christmas Eve in France. All of the children in Key Stage 2 have been learning a Christmas song in French, ‘Jésus est né’ which they have shared with their parents and carers at the Christmas singing event. They sang so beautifully. The cards, which year 4 made to send to Switzerland, have arrived at our partner school and our new pen pals are writing New Year cards which is the tradition in French speaking countries. In German club, year 6 have made paper shoes to leave out for Saint Nikolaus. They were extremely pleased with the treats they found in their shoes. Joyeux Noël and Fröhe Weihnachten! 

November

In addition to improving our speaking, listening and reading skills, we have had a focus on writing in our French lessons in November. In Y2, we’ve been writing the names of the days of the week for our own versions of the story ‘La Semaine de Berthe’. Y3 have begun to write simple sentences to describe tourist attractions in Paris. Some of our y4 children have written Christmas cards to send to our partner school in Switzerland. Y5 have also been writing letters to new pen friends in Annonay in France. It’s so exciting to receive a letter from someone from a different country. Y6 have been trying out a game of disappearing sentences to write complex sentences about what they do outside school - it became quite competitive. All these activities have allowed our children to improve their knowledge of writing in French in a different and interesting way.

October

Taking up the challenge in French!

At the beginning of our French lessons, we are encouraged to take up the challenge! Each week we start with an activity which will get our brains thinking in French. In year 2, we always sing a song we have learnt previously, using actions to help us, ‘Les Couleurs’ is a favourite amongst the children. In year 3, we have been practising a rhyme to remember how to write a short sentence introducing ourselves. Year 4 are trying to remember the names of animals and how to pronounce them accurately, if we are feeling confident, we have a go at writing them from memory. Year 5 have been reading time sentences in French and translating them. We have even managed to translate some complex sentences using our language learning skills. Year 6 are really rising to the challenge by saying sentences to explain where they are going and at what time. Madame Blackett is so impressed by the effort made by our young linguists. 

September

In September, we celebrate the European Day of Languages. This year, our children have taken part in a competition. Each child has chosen a language and they have designed a piece of bunting to celebrate that language. Everyone has done some independent research to find the flag of a country where that language is spoken along with some useful phrases. This activity has given our children who speak an additional language outside school a lovely opportunity to share their language and culture with their classmates. Madame Blackett has been very impressed by the enthusiasm shown by our children and she has learned some new phrases too. Some of the bunting will be displayed in school and the competition winners in each class will be able to choose a fun language activity to do in class at the end of term.