Aims and Objectives (Intent)
The overall aim is that children at Abbots Ripton will develop a curiosity about languages and for them to want to continue learning languages. We want to hook them into the joy of learning languages and to develop a genuine interest and positive curiosity about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating.
Learning a second language will also offer them the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity, develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners.
The four key language learning skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing will be taught and all necessary grammar will be covered in an age-appropriate way across KS2. This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning.
Teaching and Learning (Implementation)
Teaching and learning is based on a high-quality foreign languages curriculum using the Language Angels scheme of work and resources. This will progressively develop skills in foreign languages through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons in Key Stage 2 which will be taught by class teachers.
Children will progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary, language skills and grammatical knowledge organised around age-appropriate topics and themes - building blocks of language into more complex, fluent and authentic language.
Language Angels resources are divided into three teaching types: Early Learning, Intermediate and Progressive. There is progression within a lesson, across a unit and obviously across the three teaching types. Units are not designed to be taught to a particular year group but allocated to a class, based on the level of their language knowledge. This supports us with mixed-aged classes as we plan a two-year rolling programme. No pupil will ever have the same lesson or material presented twice. Kandinsky class (Years 3/4) for example will start each year with Early Learning and then progress to Intermediate units by the end of the academic year. For Picasso class, (Years 5/6), they will start with Intermediate units (the ones not covered in Years 3/4) and then move to the more challenging Progressive units by the end of each school year.
Following the Language Angels programme ensures that we cover and meet all the National Curriculum Programme of Study attainment targets and requirements. The difference for us in a mixed age-school, is the order in which our units are taught. The required grammar is weaved throughout the scheme and is constantly revisited in the different units.
The school long-term map serves as an overall ‘teaching map’ outlining what each class will be taught and when it will be taught. Each class has an overview of units to be taught during the academic year and each teaching unit is divided into 6 fully planned lessons.
- Each unit and lesson has clearly defined objectives and aims.
- Each lesson incorporates interactive whiteboard materials to include ample speaking and listening tasks within a lesson.
- Reading and writing activities are offered in all units.
- Every unit includes a grammar concept which will increase in complexity as pupils move from Early Language units, through Intermediate units and into Progressive units.
- Extending writing activities are provided to ensure that pupils are recalling previously learnt language and, by reusing it, will be able to recall it and use it with greater ease and accuracy. These tasks will help to link units together and show that pupils are retaining and recalling the language taught with increased fluency and ease.
Units are progressive within themselves as subsequent lessons within a unit build on the language and knowledge taught in previous lessons. As pupils progress through the lessons in a unit they will build their knowledge and develop the complexity of the language they use.
In addition to following the lessons provided in the Language Angels scheme of work and resources, we also believe that cultural understanding comes hand in hand with language learning. Therefore we plan lessons in order to build a cultural awareness of France and French people. This includes:
- Food tasting and or cookery sessions of traditional French cuisine
- Weather forecasts based on maps of France
- Celebrations of national feast days for example Bastille Day
- Religious festivals such as Easter and Epiphany and how they are the same and different to our celebrations..
Assessment and Recording (Impact)
There are regular opportunity to assess learning and progression in the key language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and against the 12 DfE Languages Programme of Study for Key Stage 2 attainment targets is provided at the end of each 6-week teaching unit.
In line with the schools assessment policy, learning and progression will be assessed at the end of each term, against our intended curriculum.
Inclusion
Primary Languages teaching at Abbots Ripton Primary School is fully inclusive. No child is excluded by reason of a learning difficulty, or because they have English as an additional language.
Language Angels always provides three levels of challenge in all desk-based activities so that we can support our less able learners, as well as challenge our most able. The multisensory approach to learning, using a wide range of audio, visual and kinaesthetic teaching styles throughout all units, supports children with SEND. Repetition and practise are at the core of the Language Angels resource; something from which all learners benefit, but particularly those with additional needs. Alongside this there are additional resources to support each unit such as flashcards and picture vocabulary sheets to boost confidence and memory skills, dual coding snap cards with images and English translations to ensure meaning is clear as well as a range of interactive games.
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British Values
In learning about another language, it is necessary to be aware of “difference” in a positive way. To know that there are other ways to live and behave which are valid, despite not being the same as the one that the child knows at home. The study of Languages prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world in which work and other activities are increasingly carried out in languages other than English.
Collaborative work in Languages develops mutual respect for the differing opinions, beliefs and abilities of others. In addition, children learn to appreciate the value of similarities and differences and learn to show tolerance. A variety of experiences teaches them to appreciate that all people – and their views – are equally important.
Primary Languages provides a basis for teaching and learning about other cultures, and this is incorporated into many areas of the curriculum including personal and social education and citizenship, geography, religious education, design and technology, music, art and dance. Efforts are made to ensure that teaching material includes a ‘flavour’ of the countries where French language is spoken.
The five fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith are interwoven into the teaching of Primary Languages, in particular how it relates to the intercultural understanding elements of French culture and its similarities/differences to life in Britain.