Modern Foreign Languages 

INTENT

At St Wilfrid’s Catholic Primary School, modern foreign language learning is a valued part of our curriculum as we are aware of the internationalist future of our children, recognising the significance of learning another language. We have decided to focus on Spanish, since it is spoken in twenty countries globally.  

Another reason for choosing Spanish is that it can be a good choice for children with dyslexia. It's more predictable than many languages — it has fewer rules and exceptions. It shares many of the same root words as English. And it has only five vowel sounds to learn. 

IMPLEMENTATION

Early Years Foundation Stage & Key Stage 1 

Although at EYFS and Key Stage 1 there is no specific requirement for the teaching of Modern Foreign Languages, the children love learning about other people and their lives from Early Years Foundation Stage onwards. Their Modern Foreign Language learning therefore begins by looking at similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions. They learn about different people and how they have different beliefs, attitudes, customs and traditions and why it is important to treat them with respect. 

Key Stage 2 

We have recently introduced Spanish and have chosen to use Language Angels to help us implement our teaching in MFL. The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing will be taught and all necessary grammar will be covered in an age-appropriate way across the primary phase. This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning and also helping the children improve overall attainment in other subject areas. In addition, the children will be taught how to look up and research language they are unsure of and they will have a bank of reference materials to help them with their spoken and written tasks going forward. This bank of reference materials will develop into a reference library to help pupils recall and build on previous knowledge throughout their primary school language learning journey. 

We aim for all pupils to develop a genuine interest and positive curiosity about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating. Learning a language will also offer pupils the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity, develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners. 

All classes will have access to a very high-quality foreign languages curriculum using the Language Angels scheme of work and resources. This will progressively develop pupil skills in foreign languages through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons in KS2. 

Children will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes - building blocks of language into more complex, fluent and authentic language. As we are at the beginning of our journey teaching Spanish all KS2 have started at the same level and will move on as they progress through the school. 

IMPACT

As well as each subsequent lesson within a unit being progressive, the teaching type organisation of Language Angels units also directs, drives and guarantees progressive learning and challenge. Units increase in level of challenge, stretch and linguistic and grammatical complexity as pupils move from Early Learning units through Intermediate units and into the most challenging Progressive units. Units in each subsequent level of the teaching type categories require more knowledge and application of skills than the previous teaching type. Activities contain progressively more text (both in English and Spanish) and lessons will have more content as the children become more confident and ambitious with the foreign language they are learning. 

Early Learning units will start at basic noun and article level and will teach pupils how to formulate short phrases. By the time pupils reach Progressive units they will be exposed to much longer text and will be encouraged to formulate their own, more personalised responses based on a much wider bank of vocabulary, linguistic structures and grammatical knowledge. They will be able to create longer pieces of spoken and written language and are encouraged to use a variety of conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives, opinions and justifications. 

Pupils will continuously build on their previous knowledge as they progress in their foreign language learning journey through the primary phase. Previous language will be recycled, revised, recalled and consolidated whenever possible and appropriate. 

Children will deepen their respect for the way that others live and develop an appreciation for the richness of human diversity. Importantly, immersion in a foreign language and its cultures ensures that we grow tolerant, respectful learners that truly understand the value of individual liberty.  

If you know many languages then you have many keys for a castle.