Description

 HHJS is a three form entry junior school where all children learn French.  The curriculum is lead by a specialist part-time teacher who teaches the children in Year 5 and Year 6.  In Year 3 and Year 4 the class teachers are responsible for teaching French to their own classes.  A four year scheme of work has been written by the specialist teacher, who also provides the Year 3 and Year 4 teachers with weekly lesson plans.  At the beginning of each term, the class teachers meet with the specialist teacher who provides INSET on the plans for that term, helping with pronunciation as well as explaining the lesson plans in detail for the teachers to make notes to aid their delivery of the lessons. The specialist teacher is also available to provide demonstration lessons and advice on assessment.

Sustainability

This model is sustainable while the specialist teacher remains in post.  Where teachers have changed year groups their experience remains in school, but without regular practise confidence can soon be lost.  For the last two years, one teacher from the lower school has also attended a six session course spread throughout the year to concentrate on language teaching skills.  This course is run by the Specialist teacher for the Richmond Teaching School Alliance.

 Cost

 The specialist teacher salary comes within the budget for PPA.  Money is also required to release the Year 3 and Year 4 class teachers for the termly INSET.

 Resources

 The specialist teacher has been in post for 14 years and so the resources have been built up over a long period of time.  Some are commercial resources, but many of them are “home made”.  Some resources are also used from LGfL.

 Progression and consistency

 As the specialist teacher has overall responsibility for the four year scheme of work, with a good working knowledge of KS2 Framework, national curriculum and languages ladder, progression is carefully planned.  Consistency is ensured through the termly INSET to ensure that all teachers are working towards the same goals

 Achievement

 The children’s progress and achievement is monitored against the KS2 framework and languages ladder through the Lingua Badge Award – Bronze, Silver and Gold.

 Challenges

 The challenge with this model is that it requires a specialist teacher to be in post.  It is also dependent on the Year 3 and Year 4 teachers having a certain level of  French knowledge as a basis for their teaching.  Confidence can be quite low when teachers first start to deliver the lessons, but will normally grow through out the year.  Where there is a change of  teachers in these year groups, it does mean that there is a feeling of  “starting again”, rather than building on the confidence of teachers over a period of years.