Focus on French

Foundation Students

Throughout term 3 and term 4, Foundation students have been introduced to French through a variety of songs, rhymes, games, stories and interactive activities. They have explored French sounds and pronunciation while developing their vocabulary through topics such as colours, animals, numbers and classroom objects. Students have enjoyed practising greetings, counting and responding to familiar French words and expressions through movement, repetition and play. Our daily calendar routine has also provided opportunities to explore the days of the week, weather, seasons and simple everyday language. 

Alongside language learning, students have begun discovering aspects of French-speaking cultures, including familiar foods, celebrations and daily life. These experiences have encouraged curiosity about different languages and cultures while building a positive foundation for future French learning.

Year 1 Students

Throughout term 3 and term 4, Year 1 students have continued building their confidence and familiarity with the French language through songs, rhymes, games, stories and interactive activities. They have explored a range of vocabulary, including colours, animals, numbers, weather, seasons and classroom objects, while practising greetings, familiar questions and simple responses. Students have developed their listening and speaking skills by repeating new vocabulary, recognising familiar expressions and participating in structured games and activities. Our daily calendar routine has also helped students revisit the days of the week, dates, weather and seasonal vocabulary in a meaningful context. 

Alongside language learning, students have explored aspects of French-speaking cultures, discovering different foods, celebrations and everyday practices while making connections with their own lives and experiences.

Year 2 Students

Throughout term 2 and term 3, Year 2 students have continued expanding their French vocabulary and developing their ability to understand and use familiar French expressions. Through songs, games, stories and structured activities, students have explored topics including colours, animals, numbers, weather, seasons and classroom objects. They have practised exchanging greetings, responding to familiar questions, counting and using simple French phrases in different contexts. Our daily calendar routine has provided regular opportunities to revisit the days of the week, dates, weather and seasonal language, helping students build familiarity through repetition and routine. 

Students have also explored aspects of French-speaking cultures, including food, celebrations, traditions and everyday life. Through these experiences, they have begun recognising similarities and differences between their own experiences and those of people living in other parts of the world.

Year 3 Students

Throughout term 3 and term 4, Year 3 students have developed their French vocabulary, listening and communication skills through a range of engaging activities and creative projects. Students explored vocabulary related to colours, animals, numbers and classroom language before undertaking a monster character project. They designed their own characters and learned to describe their appearance, body parts, clothing, food preferences, habitats and personalities using familiar French vocabulary and simple sentence structures. Building on this work, students used their characters to create their own comic strips, selecting story settings, planning events and incorporating French dialogue and expressions into speech bubbles. This provided opportunities to use language creatively, communicate ideas and develop confidence in creating simple written texts. 

Students have also been introduced to aspects of French-speaking cultures, exploring how language, stories and everyday experiences can vary across different communities.

Year 4 Students

Throughout term 3 and term 4, Year 4 students have continued developing their French language skills through vocabulary building, interactive activities and creative project work. Students explored descriptive vocabulary related to body parts, clothing, food, habitats and personality while designing and developing their own monster characters. They then used these characters as the foundation for an individual comic strip project, where they selected story settings, planned events and incorporated familiar French expressions and dialogue. Through this process, students practised constructing simple sentences, using descriptive language and communicating ideas through a combination of written and visual texts. 

Students also explored connections between French language and culture, considering how stories, traditions, everyday routines and experiences can differ across communities. These activities encouraged students to use their developing language skills creatively while building an appreciation for different cultural perspectives.

Year 5 Students

Throughout term 3 and term 4, Year 5 students have explored French language and culture through a combination of research, creative projects and written communication activities. Students began by investigating French-speaking countries and planning their ideal trip, exploring destinations, landmarks, travel vocabulary and activities they might experience. This project encouraged students to look beyond France and discover the diversity of the Francophone world, considering how geography, traditions, food and everyday life can differ across French-speaking communities. Students then moved into a creative storytelling project, where they designed their own fictional characters and developed vocabulary to describe their appearance, personality and interests. Using these characters, students planned and created their own comic strips, incorporating familiar 

French vocabulary, modelled sentence structures, story settings and dialogue. These projects provided opportunities to communicate ideas, develop written language skills and use French in meaningful and imaginative ways.

Year 6 Students

Throughout term 3 and 4, Year 6 students have continued developing their French language skills through research, creative projects and personal reflection. Students explored the Francophone world through an ideal travel project, investigating French-speaking countries, destinations, landmarks, activities and aspects of everyday life. This provided opportunities to develop travel-related vocabulary while discovering the cultural diversity of French-speaking communities around the world. Students also focused on reflecting on their time at FPS, thinking about their favourite subjects, memorable experiences, special events, friendships and personal achievements. They developed their understanding of the passé composé (past tense), learning to use familiar verbs and sentence structures to describe events that had already taken place. 

Their final project involved creating a written reflection addressed to their younger selves, bringing together their French language learning and personal memories as they celebrated their journey through primary school.

Kristen Kotsopoulos

French Teacher