Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)
Intent
At Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, the intention of our Modern Foreign Languages Curriculum is to develop an interest in and thirst for learning other languages. In Key Stage Two, we aim to introduce the learning of the French language and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. We hope to embed the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing. We aim to build the children’s ‘Cultural Capital’ so that they are aware of similarities and differences between cultures, encouraging tolerance and acceptance of others. In short, we hope to lay the foundations for future language learning.
Implementation
Our Languages Curriculum has been designed to progressively develop skills in French. The teaching of new vocabulary and oracy skills are at the heart of our curriculum and we deliberately build in opportunities for talk, repetition and practice. This is achieved through delivery of the ‘Niveau Bleu’, ‘Niveau Blanc’, ‘Niveau Rouge’ and ‘Niveau Tricolore’ (©) suite of resources. These ensure development is progressive as they build on previous knowledge from units already studied. All children in Key Stage Two are taught French in a weekly discrete lesson, delivered by the class teacher. Children in Key Stage One are introduced to languages through exploring other languages informally when studying other countries. We are also focusing on languages outside of the classroom. Signs around the school will also be displayed in French and also home languages, to make language learning more meaningful, accessible and to give it an authentic purpose.
Impact
At Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School, we use Language Ladders as an assessment tool to track children’s development in French. The Subject Leader uses these to track progress, identify gaps and celebrate successes in Language learning.