MFL

Intent

Our Languages curriculum has been specifically tailored to meet the unique context of our schools. It is designed to be broad and balanced, providing all pupils with the opportunity to master their learning and deepen their knowledge, making sense and giving purpose as to why we learn another language.

The philosophy for delivering a broad and balanced approach that delivers all aspects of the subject

At Our Lady’s we believe that the learning of Languages helps to promote a wider cultural awareness. As the need and ability to travel internationally becomes increasingly accessible, we recognise the importance for our children to be able to communicate in a different language effectively. Learning a language opens doors and provides more opportunities for our children to develop a greater understanding of the world and their place in it.

The key strands of the subject that pupils will learn through the school’s age-related expectations

We aim to build high levels of competence in the subject specific skills of:

• Speaking
• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar

Implementation

How learning is structured, organised and resourced

Languages are taught through the framework of the 2014 National curriculum. The principles and content of its requirements have been carefully placed at the heart of the school’s programmes of study in Languages.

We follow the Catherine Cheater scheme of work. This provides supportive planning, resources and assessment opportunities for teachers in Key Stage 2. These plans are closely linked to the school’s Age Related Expectations in Languages for each year group.

A curriculum coverage file is kept for each cohort. This enables class teachers and the subject leader to monitor coverage and identify progress made throughout the lifetime of a cohort in the school.

Work is evidenced in each year group using a work book, which includes key vocabulary and ‘I cans’ taken from the school’s AREs. Children are also provided with an individual file for their written work. Each file contains a ‘word bank’ in the target language which the pupils can refer to in order to support their learning.

Resources

This system is greatly enriched through the online resources and ‘sound clips’ provided with the Primary Languages Network scheme.

How pupils’ learning and progress is assessed

In Languages, assessment of pupil progress is undertaken against the age-related expectations for Languages. This includes any final pieces of work and any whole class assessment that staff might undertake. The outcomes of these assessments are used by class teachers to evaluate the quality of coverage of the ARE in Languages and to inform aspects of learning that need to be strengthened to improve the quality of provision and to enhance pupil progress.

The knowledge, skills and concepts that pupils gain from learning the subject.

A high quality teaching of languages aims to develop a range of skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas, such as Literacy and Geography. Children will:

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of 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 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 the language
• 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