13 July 2021
Primary School children in Year 5 have been receiving French lessons, as part of a Government funded programme, which provides pupils with three hours of timetabled French over a six-week period.
This academic year the programme has been taught in 21 primary schools and is expected to run until July 2022 for all Year 5 pupils in the Island.
The French Experience was first trialed in two schools in 2017 which resulted in 83% of students reaching the expected curriculum standard one-year group early.
Primary Lead for French, Rachael Surcouf, said: "I am pleased that we can extend The French Experience to all nine and ten-year old pupils in the Island, it is a bespoke programme delivered by specialist French teachers. We are also currently preparing a further initiative to monitor these students when they enter Year 6 and Secondary School as part of a Wider Languages Strategy.
"It has been delightful to see pupils' curiosity and engagement for language at such an early age. The class teachers have been keen to learn alongside the pupils and foster a climate for celebrating languages in the classroom to develop interest in French and other modern foreign languages represented in our multilingual Island."
St Mary's Primary School Teacher for Year 5, Laura Guillaume, said: "The pupils really enjoyed incorporating the language learnt in French class into their school day. French singing and chanting could be heard from my classroom and the children celebrated and shared the language they had learnt with family members by performing a short play entirely in French."
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