Our St Swithun's Curriculum for Languages

The Subject Leader for Languages is Mrs Morgan

The core language taught at St Swithun's is French.

Our planning is supported by the Light Bulb Languages Scheme of Work which covers all the components of the Programme of Study.

Our MFL Subject Leader is Mrs Morgan.

Intent

Our aim at St Swithun’s is to engender a sense of wonder and curiosity and to help them to connect with the wider world around them.

It is the intention that all children in KS2 will access first quality teaching of French by their classteacher so that they are well prepared for KS3.

KS1 children will be introduced to a modern foreign language through exploring other languages informally when appropriate. They will be introduced to some basic greetings, functional language and some nursery songs in French from our Early Years Foundation Stage.

Learning a foreign language enables pupils to see themselves as global citizens and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should deepen their understanding of the world and equip them to play active roles in our multi-cultural society. Teachers should feel confident in enabling children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. Languages should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping children to study and work in other countries.

The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• speak 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.

At St Swithun’s, it is our intent that children in Lower KS2 will acquire basic skills and understanding of French with a strong emphasis placed on developing their speaking and listening skills. These will be embedded and further developed in Upper KS2, with greater emphasis on reading and writing, gradually progressing onto more complex language concepts and greater learner autonomy.

It is intended that when children leave St Swithun’s, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages; they will be enthused and well-prepared to continue language learning in Secondary School and beyond.

Implementation

In line with the National Curriculum for MFL, the children at St Swithun’s are taught to:

• listen attentively to spoken French language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of French language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic French language structures 
• develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in French
• broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
• understand basic French grammar, including: feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

French lessons are taught weekly in KS2 by the class teacher. Children demonstrate their learning through speaking and listening, participation in games and songs, completing practical activities and recording individual responses in their French exercise books. Immediate feedback is given through picking up pronunciation and word choice errors and supporting the children to embed correct ways.  

Impact

We measure the impact of our curriculum through a number of methods, including:

• Observing children speaking and listening in another language.
• Marking of written work.
• Images and videos of children completing speaking and listening activities.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum to parents.
• Learning walks.

The MFL subject leader monitors the impact MFL teaching is having on the children’s learning in order to ensure that there is a good progression of knowledge and skills from Year 3 to Year 6.

At St Swithun’s we find opportunities to celebrate languages and ensure that the knowledge taught is continually revisited and check that children are able to apply the skills they have been taught.

Languages in the curriculum

• We plan using the National Curriculum.
• Subject Key Learning and Progression in Skills  grids are used to develop long term planning.
• Teachers use the long term planning to plan units of work and deliver individual lessons