“A different language is a different vision of life.” Federico Fellini.
Modern Foreign Languages are an important part of our young people’s education. There are many clear personal, cultural, social and career benefits in being able to communicate confidently in another language.
Intent Statement
It is our intent at Wingate Primary School to provide all of our children with a high quality education in Modern Foreign Languages. Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high quality MFL education will foster pupil’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. We aim to build our children’s ‘cultural capital’ so that they have a knowledge and understanding of the richness and diversity between cultures.
We want our pupils to be enthusiastic, engaged and challenged and to develop their ability to use and understand another language. We want them to be able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to respond to its speakers in both speech and writing. We want to provide the foundation for further learning equipping them to study and work in other countries. We want to provide the tools to allow our children to become global citizens.
Our children will learn French, German, Spanish, Mandarin and Italian at various stages. By the end of Year 6 our children should be able to hold a short conservation in Italian as well as write in the language with some confidence.
Implementation
Our children, beginning in reception, will have weekly language lessons, curiosity about languages is encouraged and children are made aware that language has a structure that can differ from one language to another.
In KS1 ‘Early Start’ programmes are used to teach French Spanish and German and opportunities for learning are incorporated in daily routines. Children will also explore through the theme of LNY, Chinese geography, culture and language.
In Key stage 2, language teaching follows NC guidelines and each year group will receive a minimum of 1 hour language teaching weekly by a specialist language teacher. The majority of this time will be spent on learning Italian with the exception of Spring term 1 where the children will learn some Mandarin as part of our commitment to explore cultural diversity and promote inclusivity.
Wherever possible external links will be made to investigate and celebrate other cultures and to listen to and engage in conversation with native speakers.
Impact
Children will be continually assessed on their understanding and progress through a general re-cap at the beginning of each lesson, quizzes and challenges will also play a part in informally assessing progress whilst allowing children to celebrate their knowledge.
The Language Magician Assessment will be used for years 4, 5 and 6 to provide a more formal assessment.
Year 6 will perform a pantomime partly in Italian as part of their ‘leavers ‘ celebrations.
