French & Mandarin

Every class from Reception to Year 3 enjoys a weekly French and Mandarin lesson, taught by a specialist teacher, as part of the curriculum.

Both languages are taught through songs, games and gestures. This teaching method engages all children as they have to 'sign' what they are saying, as well as respond to the teacher and each other in short burst of authentic language. This combination of Visual, Aural and Kinesthetic approaches is proving extremely effective in catering to childrens' different learning styles. Linguistically, this methodology focuses on developing the childrens' knowledge of key verbs, the key to being able to construct simple sentences, rather than concentrating on teaching lists of words in topical isolation.