MFL
Intent
Learning a foreign language is a necessary part of being a member of a multi-cultural society and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education fosters children’s curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. Children will then be able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. Language teaching provides the foundation for learning further languages, equipping children to study and work in other countries.
At South Molton Community Primary School, children have weekly lessons in French throughout Key Stage 2 - using the resources and units of work from the PlanIt French scheme of work. PlanIt French offers a carefully planned sequence of lessons, ensuring progressive coverage of the skills required by the National Curriculum. It aims to foster children’s curiosity and help deepen their understanding of the world. A linear curriculum has been chosen to allow opportunities for children to gradually build on their skills. This French scheme of work enables children to express their ideas and thoughts in French and provides opportunities to interact and communicate with others both in speech and in writing. At the heart of the French scheme of work is the desire to expose children to authentic French, so the scheme offers regular opportunities to listen to native speakers.
It is intended that when children leave South Molton Community Primary School, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages. They will be engaged and prepared to continue their language learning journey into Key Stage 3.
Implementation
Lessons are sequenced so that prior learning is considered and opportunities for revision of language and grammar are built in. Our lessons and resources help children to build on prior knowledge alongside the introduction of new skills. A series of lessons are suggested, providing structure and context as well as offering an insight into the culture of French-speaking countries and communities. The introduction and revision of key vocabulary and grammatical structures is built into each lesson. The PlanIt French lesson packs contain adult guidance, accurate language subject knowledge and accompanying audio materials - recorded by French native speakers.
Impact
At South Molton Community Primary School, we are committed to ensuring our MFL teaching provides the foundation for pupils to be able to learn further language, as well as the means to access possible international opportunities for study and work later in life. As well as a full range of teaching resources, PlanIt French includes display materials, which help increase the profile of languages across school. The learning environment can then be consistent with key French vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. We want to ensure that French is loved by teachers and pupils across school, therefore encouraging them to embark on further language studies. Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids, jigsaw targets and KWL grids and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.