Pupils learn a language with 3 pillars and a pizza box

23 April 2024

Image of

Priory’s Languages department encouraged pupils to use their imaginations to help them understand the new way of teaching French.

Instead of being taught in different topics, French is now based around the ‘Three Pillars’ – Grammar, Phonics and Vocabulary.

“I am a massive fan of this new French curriculum,” said Head of Languages, Mrs Scully, who is in her second school year of teaching it.

“The new way of learning can be trickier to understand so we gave our pupils a challenge to try and help them.

“They were asked to build a model of the ‘Three Pillars’ which showed their understanding of each of the pillars, that they were of equal importance and what they offer in terms of language.

“They had two hours to build them in their House teams and then they went in front of a panel of three senior figures in school to answer questions such as: ‘Why do you learn vocabulary?’ ‘What is grammar?’ and ‘What does 'HABITS’ stand for?’

HABITS is an acronym standing for: High frequency language; Automaticity; Building Blocks of Language; Independence; Talk it! Read it! Write it! Listen to it!; and Sequencing. This helps pupils understand why they are learning French in this way.

Mrs Scully continued: “They were also questioned about careers in French and they showed a good understanding about how you can use languages in a host of different jobs.

“Pupils are also taught ten words a week. This is on purpose so we aren’t overloading them and the new vocabulary sinks in.

“We have noticed an impact on our pupils since we introduced this a year ago. Their pronunciation is better, they have better vocabulary retention and their grammar is improving.

“This will prepare them for a new GCSE and we believe this way of teaching French will be more beneficial to our pupils.”

Oliver, of Year 8 winners, Group 3 Calder, said: “Making the model definitely helped me understand the Three Pillars better.”

Year 8 Phoebe said: “Building the model was fun and enjoyable while the presentation was nerve-racking. I had missed one of the lessons so this helped me catch-up and helped me understand it better.”

Year 8 Emily said: “My job was to concentrate on the careers aspect and they are all now engraved in my brain!”

Leon, of Year 7 Group 1 winner Hodder, who won overall, added: “Our model had three pillars on a box and we included the ‘HABITS’ so it was a good way to learn.”

These were our winners:

Year 8

1st    Group 3 Calder - Sophie P, Phoebe P, Ellie A, Oliver C, Emily C
2nd   Group 1 Ribble
3rd    Group 6 Hodder
4th   Wild Card Group 4 Ribble
5th   Group 2 Douglas

Year 7

1st   Group 1 Hodder - Hollie L, Zack E, Dexter H, Salahuddeen I, Craig B, Leon H
2nd   Group 3 Douglas
3rd   Group 1 Ribble
4th   Group 1 Calder
5th   Wild Card Group 1 Douglas