Modern Foreign Languages
Intent
Our aims at St. Philip's are to ensure that all pupils:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources.
- Speaking with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
- Develop linguistic skills which they can use to assist and lay foundations for further language learning.
- Gain confidence and independence to explore and be able to attempt manipulation of the structure of language.
Implementation
Our school follows the Primary Languages Network scheme of work. It is a live scheme, which is continually updated and revised in order to meet with current curriculum standards. The scheme is enriched through accompanying power points, pod casts (spoken by native speakers) links to authentic literature, songs, games, culture points of reference and links to appropriate websites. The scheme is used to plan appropriate lessons, as they contain suggestions of units, which can be covered. Each unit builds on and extends previous knowledge to enable progression to be made. We have also chosen to supplement this with our own activities that are used to add depth and provide further practice of vocabulary where appropriate.
Additionally, the Primary Languages Network annual conference is attended by the Language Coordinator to network with local primary schools and share best practice, further ensuring developments, or changes within the Languages Curriculum are reviewed and implemented at St Philip's.
To promote an active learning of languages a range of teaching methods are implemented to ensure that the children are developing their linguistic skills through listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to be secondary ready. Activities can consist of actions, rhymes, stories, song, drama, grammar focus, video clips, air writing, sentence structure, dictionary work, book making and many more creative ways to extend, embed and combine language skills.
Spanish is currently taught in Early Years & Key Stage One for 10 minutes per week. Spanish lessons are also delivered for a minimum of 30 minutes per week within each of our KS2 classes. Children willhave the opportunities to:
- Ask and answer questions
- Use correct pronunciation and grammar Memorise words
- Interpret meaning Understand basic grammar Use dictionaries
- Work collaboratively to communicate in Spanish Look at life in another culture
- Participate in engaging, practical and memorable lessons. Write words, phrases and sentences in Spanish.
- Foster a link (facilitated by Language Coordinator) with pupils from a school based in Burgos, Northern Spain, where they may send and receive letters and share cultural similarities and differences
- Develop the necessary skills required to become independent language learners.
Progression
Progression is clearly marked throughout the Programme of Study, following five main strands. These include:
- Literacy Oracy
- lntercultural understanding Knowledge about language Language learning strategies.
- Children will also be supported in lessons and at home through the use of the LanguageNut website and App and the Duolingo APP, which both offer opportunities to learn a number of other languages.