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Original poster

Are kids still learning French?

32 replies

Ajoh · 03/02/2021 13:02

Been looking at some schools and it seems like not all children learned French at primary school, some seem to have done Spanish.... I thought french was standard for the kids in England at least

OP posts:
BoattoBolivia · 03/02/2021 13:25

It shouldn't be- the national curriculum is very clear about this. 4 years of progress in one language. But of course there is no extra money for any training or resources.

BoattoBolivia · 03/02/2021 13:23

As pp said, schools can choose any language really, although they may have to justify their choice to Ofsted. I teach German in a primary school. I know of schools that teach French, Spanish or Italian as well. The choice depends on lots of factors: secondary school input, teacher experience, resources available, links with other schools or the whim of the head.

TryingNotToPanicOverCovid · 03/02/2021 13:20

Its often incredibly basic French when it is done in primary. My name is x and some token vocab they forget by secondary

Angel2702 · 03/02/2021 13:20

None of mine did French at primary. Eldest did German and then Spanish at high school. Middle did Spanish at primary and wanted to continue but had to do French at high school as his cohort does French, the other cohort do Spanish.

Florin · 03/02/2021 13:20

My son has learnt French from year 1 and they start also learning Spanish in year 5.

Barbalalalib · 03/02/2021 13:19

'Teaching may be of any modern or ancient foreign language'. Provision is incredibly variable, some schools bring in outside help and run courses throughout the school. Others rely on someone in the staff having enough knowledge to teach rudimentary skills (or making someone who really doesn't). Spanish is very popular in secondary schools now so unsurprising this is showing at Primary too.

majororminor · 03/02/2021 13:18

Spanish instead of French is pretty common now. Most still seem to choose one or the other.

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