Languages
OUR SCHOOL VISION
Learning together, rooted in God, pupils at St Lawrence Church of England Primary School are easy to distinguish by the personal qualities they present. They are happy, confident, articulate children with a love of learning, who recognise and celebrate their own individuality and that of other members of our community. They are generous, kind and welcoming; they are forgiving and understand justice. With God by their side, they face the world with resilience, integrity and joy.
Learning a foreign language is part of the primary National Curriculum and is a requirement for all children within key stage 2.
Aims
Our aim is to develop the confidence and competence of each child in the foreign language they are learning. Our goal is for them to be passionate, curious and confident about their own foreign language learning abilities when they finish the primary school phase of their education.
We will help them develop and demonstrate substantial progress in the 5 key language skills necessary for learning French:
- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
- Grammar
We aim to ensure that pupils of all abilities develop solid foundations in these key language learning skills - properly preparing them for the next stage of their language learning journey. These skills will develop children’s ability to understand what they hear and read and enable them to express themselves in speech and writing. We will extend their knowledge of how language works and explore the similarities and differences between the foreign language they are learning and English. We will also help strengthen their sense of identity through learning about culture in other countries and comparing it with their own.
Teaching and Learning Overview
Our whole school approach to language teaching and learning is in line with the recommendations of the National Curriculum and the requirements outlined in the Department for Education Languages Programme of Study for Key Stage 2.
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 authentic writing in the language studied.
By the end of key stage 2, pupils should be able to:
- 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.
- Understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): 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.
Organisation & Delivery
French is taught in a whole-class setting by the class teacher in KS2 and is therefore not reliant on one key member of staff.
Teachers plan their lessons using the Language Angels scheme of work and can supplement this with their own ideas and experience and those of their colleagues. The Language Angels units have been ordered in a way which ties in with other areas of the curriculum where possible. For example Year 3 learn about 'Les Fruits' in French at the same time as their 'Healthy Humans' topic and Year 5 learn about 'Les Jeux Olympiques' (The Olympic Games) in French in line with an overall topic of the same theme.
French phonics are delivered using the Language Angels lessons, as well as being supplemented by the NCELP scheme throughout KS2.
The lessons are designed to motivate, captivate and interest children from the first moment. They have clear, achievable objectives and incorporate different learning styles. SEN children have access to the curriculum through variation of task, grouping or support from an adult.
Each class has a timetabled lesson of at least thirty minutes per week.
SEND Provision in Languages
In French lessons at Barton St Lawrence we support all children to fully access the curriculum and learn a foreign language. Language Angels has a strong focus on communication and interaction, with clear and explicit instructions. The first skills focused on in all lessons are always speaking and listening, before introducing reading and writing. Pupils have access to clear vocabulary sheets to support them in their work.
There is a strong focus on developing long-term memory skills, enabling pupils to master vocabulary, structures and skills over time, with pupils able to access varying levels of support throughout. Written tasks are consistently differentiated to three levels of challenge.
Language Angels lessons focus strongly on multi-sensory methods and physical needs; with karaoke songs/animations available in all units, in addition to the use of images and actions/mimes used wherever possible to support the introduction of new language. Language Angels at Barton St Lawrence provides a wide range of activities, catering for all types of learners.
Able, Gifted & Talented Linguists
A group of 13 pupils across years 3-6 have recently begun meeting with Mrs Charlotte White (not only our Chair of Governors, but also a highly experienced teacher of secondary MFL!) to explore French language in more detail, adding an additional level of challenge to that in their weekly French lessons.
Although this is a fairly new meeting, but is already a real success. This is what Mrs White had to say about the group after their first session:
"The pupils were delightful and all very capable linguists. They all tried hard, listened intently and contributed well."
Postcard Writing Competition
All children were invited to design and write a postcard about an imaginary visit to a French speaking country. Here are a few of the fantastic entries!
Alfie's postcard included some of the fabulous French that he has been learning in his 'Les Fruits' unit with Mrs Pilling.
I learnt some facts about Ottawa, Canada from Záin's postcard!
Noah might only be in Year 2, but look at those amazing adjectives about a trip to Paris!
Rhea tried really hard to include some words of French in her English sentences.
European Day of Languages
The whole school celebrated European Day of Languages in September. It was fantastic to see every single pupil in school involved in using their French, as well as learning some useful phrases in other languages. Each KS2 class researched a different European language and some facts about a country in which it is spoken, as well as doing a treasure hunt around school using their French knowledge! KS1 classes had stories read to them in French by Mrs Woodvine and all year groups in school joined in with a fantastic, interactive, online French session from Lingotots. C'était super!
