French in a ‘new way’ is difficult concept when you have been teaching for 30 plus years…..but a ‘new way‘ is happening successfully throughout the school. No more moving around the classroom to practise key phrases with your friends, no more stealing sentences from classmates’ boards, and no more face to face board games.
We have found a way and French lessons still include lots of games and activities for every age group. We have adapted our favourites and where once we all rolled a dice for our turn to write, now I have control of a virtual dice….the excitement is still there, and tension still builds. On fine days we use the Stack Yard and practise key phrases and speaking skills in a socially distanced way and it is great to see that the pupils still have that enjoyment when they suddenly understand what their partner is saying.
Learning a language is even more important nowadays as we work virtually with people across the world. As Nelson Mandela famously said,
Hearing our pupils trying to learn new languages and communicate with each other certainly warms my heart.
Cathy Hornung, Head of MFL and Teacher of French