French
At Fairfield, we believe that there is essential language knowledge for beginner language learners which are the three strands of phonics, vocabulary and grammar. Throughout our teaching of French, these strands are combined to make knowledge stronger through interconnections as each strand affects the other. Phonics, vocabulary and grammar are taught in this order as these are the highest frequency concepts that children will encounter on their journey as language learners.
Phonics is taught through sound-symbol correspondence which are selected through their frequency of occurrence in the language. Vocabulary is also taught with word frequency in mind, teaching verbs and singular forms as vocabulary initially before they are introduced again in terms of grammar later on. Grammar features are also selected for frequency and therefore importance for communication.
As with all our subjects at Fairfield, we aim to systematically re-visit content which has been taught previously in order to prevent forgetting and to maximise progress.