LOTE - French

Our Immersive and Holistic FRENCH Program at WPS

At WPS, French is the language of choice which was voted in by our parent community a few years ago. Our purpose is to help shape our students into citizens of the world to better equip them for the vast international opportunities they will come across in the near future. A capability solely in English, despite its status as a world language, can limit global opportunities: A bilingual or plurilingual capability is the norm in many parts of the world today. To cater for this, our extensive and insightful LOTE program provides a holistic view of ‘learning French’ as a subject. Across all year levels, this includes diving into:

• The history and geography of France
• The culture and traditions of its people
• Linguistic skills through analytical language learning

With communication as a human imperative in mind, our French program taps into students’ imagination, creativity and a broad understanding of themselves and others through an appreciation of the cultural diversity of the world and its peoples. At WPS, our Willy Kids learn French through their own participation and their ways of being in the world.

To do this right, we have the added bonus at our school to have our very own native French teacher to navigate the intricacies of this multi-layered approach across the entire Junior School. Our innovative French program caters for all abilities and importantly allows new students to fit right in and make a strong start from the time they join our supportive immersive learning environment. In the Willy Primary French classroom, there is something for everyone!

FRENCH Curriculum Overview

As learning a second language is to be able to communicate in another tongue, strong emphasis is put on the 5 Victorian Curriculum macro skills:

1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing
5. Viewing

Students actively practise the language in class through group activities and role plays to be able to enjoy hearing themselves in another language and role model to their peers. The French classroom is an international space for knowledge development and empowerment as well as linguistic growth which in turn reinforces and builds upon our student’s own English literacy skills as the foundation for their second language.

The 4 interrelated aims of the French curriculum are to develop knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure students:

1. Communicate in French
2. Understand the relationship between language and culture
3. Develop intercultural capabilities
4. Understand themselves as communicators.

Teaching Approach 

From an immersion perspective, we use a combination of sequential steps and activities to capture students interest during every class:

1. French song/music with visuals of France playing to welcome students
2. Student-led class discussion about culture/language to captivate the audience
3. Linguistic topic of the day supported by visual materials
4. Active interactions in French with partners to practise the language
5. Written recording of learnings in silent time for a relaxed and open-minded linguistic assimilation 
6. Cooperative sharing of work completed 

Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom

Our unique approach to the subject aims at transporting our students right into the heart of France and across all the many French speaking parts of the world. At Willy, we use real life experiences and authentic French materials to turn students’ learnings into knowledge:

• French personal experiences: Students are invited to share their own experiences of France and  French in their many different forms, from worldly travel experiences to family restaurant outings, etc…
• Keeping up to speed with relevant updates from France as if we were there: Class viewing and sharing of cultural milestones as they pop up, such as the 2024 Paris Olympics or the recent re-opening of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral and the titanesque work that went on behind the scenes to recreate this near 1000 year old structure  
• Whole School Bastille Day celebration: Every two years, we bring France to Willy Primary with a fun-filled day of French singing, eating, doing and being. 

Above all, our French learning experience at Willy ensures an insightful smooth and autonomous transition into secondary school should families decide to move across to Willy High to continue with the French program there from Year 7 to Year 12.