Foreign Language
Our Curriculum Threads
Our curriculum threads are woven through our MFL curriculum as:
It allows children to develop their LANGUAGE AND ORACY skills through acquisition of a Romance language comparing similarities and differences in grammatical structures and phonic systems.
Provides a HEALTHY AND HAPPY environment for learning. The teaching style supports children in understanding the importance of self-expression. Tasks are aimed to boost confidence and encourage children to give it a go rather than purely strive for perfection.
Offers glimpses into the DIVERSITY of cultures of the world where French and Spanish are spoken. Enabling the children to communicate with those from other countries and discuss their traditions and daily lives.
Encourages INCLUSIVITY. All students are expected to participate to the best of their ability with varying support.
Introduces children to life in a foreign country and its language. WISDOM is acquired and hopefully sparks the curiosity and WONDER which will inspire them to make the most of future opportunities to further their linguistic skills.
Intent
At Winkfield St Mary’s, the intention of our Modern Foreign Language (MFL) curriculum is for the children to develop an interest and thirst for learning other languages. Learning a second 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.
At Winkfield St Mary’s, we celebrate and promote the development of children’s spoken word through initiatives such as our Orator of the Week; developing oracy in another language therefore just consolidates the importance of articulating ideas, developing understanding and engaging with others through the spoken word. Our language teaching should provide the children with a foundation for learning further languages as well as equipping them with a positive, life-time attitude towards conversing with and understanding others. It is our intent that our teaching will enable children to confidently express their ideas and thoughts in another language and have a go without feeling self-conscious or worried about getting it wrong.
Implementation
The language of choice here at Winkfield St Mary’s is Spanish. Modern Foreign Languages is led by Mrs Tomkins and is taught by Mrs Hobbs.
From Year 3, children learn Spanish, using the resources and units of work from the ‘Language Angels’ scheme. This will progressively develop pupil skills in foreign languages through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons.
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. The planning of different levels of challenge and which units to teach at each stage of the academic year will be addressed dynamically and will be reviewed in detail annually as units are updated and added to the scheme. Lessons offering appropriate levels of challenge and stretch will be taught at all times to ensure pupils learn effectively, continuously building their knowledge of and enthusiasm for the language(s) they are learning. In addition, children are given wider opportunities to practise their spoken Spanish through real-life scenarios and celebrations.
Learning a new language can be daunting and, to ensure we inspire and engage children, the lessons combine a mixture of:
- Games – in order to develop vocabulary through repetition, reading, writing, speaking and listening
- Role-Play – these should relate to the situations the children may find themselves in the future
- Action Songs and Rhymes – to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to further vocabulary.
- Quality reading and writing materials
Children within the Early Years and Key Stage One are introduced to MFL informally through studying other countries and when learning about others.
Impact
Through the high-quality teaching of Spanish taking place, we will see the impact of the subject in the following ways.
- Children will become aware that a language has a structure and that the structure differs from one language to another
- Children will develop their language and communication through the development of the key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing and grammar.
- Children will enrich their language learning by developing and understanding of Spanish culture.
- Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared and excited to continue and develop their language skills.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Observing children speaking and listening in another language
- Marking of written work
- Learning Walks
- Images and videos of children completing speaking and listening activities.
- End of unit assessments
The MFL subject leader will continually monitor the impact MFL teaching is having on the children’s learning to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught as well as ensuring the knowledge taught is retained by the children and is continually revisited.