Intent

Our intent at Church Langton CE Primary School is to follow the National Curriculum requirements for the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages. Modern Foreign Languages are taught in Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) in accordance with the Programme of Study.

The National Curriculum requirements are:

• An appropriate balance of spoken and written language
• Pupils learn to speak in sentences, with appropriate pronunciation
• Pupils learn to express simple ideas with clarity
• Pupils learn to write phrases and short sentences from memory
• Pupils develop an understanding of basic grammar
• Pupils become acquainted with songs and stories in the target language
• Teaching focuses on making substantial progress in one language across the Key Stage

To achieve these requirements, we use a scheme called Rigolo as a starting point and we follow the progression of skills grid that maps out what is expected of each year group throughout Key Stage 2 in the teaching of French. This enables us to monitor the progress of the children’s learning of the language as they move throughout school, to ensure they make substantial progress across all areas of the language: listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar and intercultural understanding. We believe that the learning of and immersion in other languages and cultures is extremely important, in order for our children to broaden their understanding of the world, other people and different cultures.

Implementation

At Church Langton CE Primary School, we want our children to:

• Have the confidence to ‘have a go’ at speaking in French.
• Hear French being spoken in class.
• Be immersed in the language throughout areas of school.
• Develop accurate pronunciation and understanding.
• Learn French through songs, stories, poems and rhymes.
• Learn the differences between the English Language and the French Language.

Through high quality language teaching and learning, children will be able to progress with their speaking, listening and writing skills. They will be able to express their ideas and opinions, both orally and in written form and enjoy their learning of the language through interesting and stimulating resources, such as games, songs and rhymes.

In our aim to create a stimulating and engaging environment within which to foster a love of the language, we will teach high quality lessons using a variety of resources with bright and engaging displays that promote the use of rich vocabulary and showcase children’s work.

In order to monitor children’s progress, staff using formative assessment methods to inform future teaching and learning in order to help children achieve their full potential in French in accordance with the National Curriculum.

Impact

At Church Langton CE Primary School we want to ensure that our children have the best outcomes in every aspect of learning and that every child fulfils their potential. By the end of Key Stage 2, more children will have a love of languages and an understanding of different people, cultures and traditions. We aim for the children to articulate this and contribute to their own learning through dedicated pupil voice. By raising this profile, we envisage more children will be assessed as reaching expected standard in French by the end of Key Stage 2, which will then give them a solid foundation in their language learning as they continue their educational journey.

At Church Langton CE Primary School, the intention of our Modern Foreign Languages curriculum is to develop an interest in and thirst for learning other languages. We aim to introduce the learning of Spanish and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. We hope to embed the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. We aim to build the children’s ‘culture capital’ so that they are aware of similarities and differences between cultures. In short, we hope to lay the foundations for future language learning.

Children at Church Langton start to learn Spanish in Foundation Stage at the age of 4, continuing all the way through key stage one. In Years 3–6 the children then start to learn French. These lessons are delivered by our specialist language staff.

Our MFL curriculum has been designed to progressively develop skills in French. We ensure children acquire a bank of vocabulary organised around topics. We ensure development is progressive as teachers plan to build on previous knowledge from units already studied.

Languages are part of the cultural richness of our society and the world in which we live and work. Learning languages contributes to mutual understanding, a sense of global citizenship and personal fulfilment. Pupils will learn to appreciate different countries, cultures, communities and people.