St Michael's Primary School
Together we achieve
Foreign Languages
Foreign Languages
Intent
At St Michael’s Primary School, we believe that the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils. It helps them to develop communication skills including key skills of speaking and listening and extends their knowledge of how language works. Learning another language gives children a new perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others.
At St Michael’s Primary School, we teach French to our Key Stage 2 children using the Language Angels scheme of work.
The aims of Primary Languages teaching at St Michael’s Primary School are to:
- foster an interest in language learning by introducing children to other languages in a way that is enjoyable and accessible to all pupils.
- stimulate and encourage children’s curiosity about language and creativity in experimenting with it.
- support literacy, and in particular, develop speaking and listening skills.
- help children develop their awareness of cultural similarities and differences.
- lay the foundations for future language study by pupils.
- provide an added perspective on first language teaching and learning.
Implementation
All classes will have access to a high-quality foreign languages curriculum using the Language Angels scheme of work and resources. This will progressively develop pupil skills in foreign languages through regularly taught and well-planned weekly lessons in KS2 which will be taught weekly.
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.
All teachers will know where every child is at any point in their foreign language learning journey.
The table below outlines the language learning skills progression by year group:
| Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
Listening | Listen to and enjoy short stories, nursery rhymes & songs. Recognise familiar words and short phrases covered in the units taught. | Learn to listen to longer passages and understand more of what we hear by picking out key words and phrases covered in current and previous units. | Listen more attentively and for longer. Understand more of what we hear even when some of the language may be unfamiliar by using the decoding skills we have developed. | Listen to longer text and more authentic foreign language material. Learn to pick out cognates and familiar words and learn to 'gist listen' even when hearing language that has not been taught or covered. |
Speaking | Communicate with others using simple words and short phrases covered in the units. | Communicate with others with improved confidence and accuracy. Learn to ask and answer questions based on the language covered in the units and incorporate a negative reply if and when required. | Communicate on a wider range of topics and themes. Remember and recall a range of vocabulary with increased knowledge, confidence and spontaneity. | Learn to recall previously learnt language and recycle/incorporate it with new language with increased speed and spontaneity. Engage in short conversations on familiar topics, responding with opinions and justifications where appropriate. |
Reading | Read familiar words and short phrases accurately by applying knowledge from 'Phonics Lesson 1'. Understand the meaning in English of short words I read in the foreign language. | Read aloud short pieces of text applying knowledge learnt from 'Phonics Lessons 1 & 2'. Understand most of what we read in the foreign language when it is based on familiar language. | Understand longer passages in the foreign language and start to decode meaning of unknown words using cognates and context. Increase our knowledge of phonemes and letter strings using knowledge learnt from 'Phonics Lessons 1 to 3'. | Be able to tackle unknown language with increased accuracy by applying knowledge learnt from 'Phonics Lessons 1 to 4' including awareness of accents, silent letters etc. Decode unknown language using bilingual dictionaries. |
Writing | Write familiar words & short phrases using a model or vocabulary list. EG: 'I play the piano'. 'I like apples'. | Write some short phrases based on familiar topics and begin to use connectives/conjunctions and the negative form where appropriate. EG: My name, where I live and my age. | Write a paragraph using familiar language incorporating conjunctions, a negative response and adjectival agreement where required. Learn to manipulate the language and be able to substitute words for suitable alternatives. EG: My name, my age, where I live, a pet I have, a pet I don't have and my pet's name. | Write a piece of text using language from a variety of units covered and learn to adapt any models provided to show solid understanding of any grammar covered. Also start to incorporate conjugated verbs and learn to be comfortable using conjunctions, adjectives and possessive adjectives. EG: A presentation or description of a typical school day including subjects, time and opinions. |
Grammar | Start to understand the concept of noun gender and the use of articles. Use the first person singular version of high frequency verbs. EG: 'I like…' 'I play…' 'I am called…' | Better understand the concept of gender and which articles to use for meaning (EG: 'the', 'a' or 'some'). Introduce simple adjectival agreement (EG: adjectival agreement when describing nationality), the negative form and possessive adjectives. EG: 'In my pencil case I have…' or 'In my pencil case I do not have...' | Revision of gender and nouns and learn to use and recognise the terminology of articles (EG: definite, indefinite and partitive). Understand better the rules of adjectival agreement and possessive adjectives. Start to explore full verb conjugation (EG: 'I wear...', 'he/she wears...' and also be able to describe clothes in terms of colour EG: 'My blue coat'. | Consolidate our understanding of gender and nouns, use of the negative, adjectival agreement and possessive adjectives (EG: which subjects I like at school and also which subjects I do not like). Become familiar with a wider range of conjunctions and more confident with full verb conjugation ‐ both regular and irregular. EG: 'to go', 'to do', 'to have' and 'to be'. |
Enrichment and Resources
Alongside the Language Angels scheme of work, St Michael’s will:
- Integrate the French language into the school day, for example: greeting the children or taking the register in French (or another language),
- Each KS2 classroom displays a relevant and useful display comprising of everyday French vocabulary, appropriate to the year group, and words and phrases relating to the unit of study.
- We have a collection of French resources held centrally, this includes: library of well-known books translated into French, flashcards, French music CDs and cultural objects.
- We have had contact with the Head of Languages at a local feeder school, ensuring our children are well-prepared when they start Year 7.
Impact (Assessment, Recording and Reporting)
Pupils will continuously build on their previous knowledge as they progress in their foreign language learning journey through the primary phase. Previous language will be recycled, revised, recalled and consolidated whenever possible and appropriate.
Teachers will have a clear overview of what they are working towards and if they are meeting these criteria. We use long-term planning documents to ensure the correct units are being taught to the correct classes at each stage of the scholastic year. Individual lesson plans laying out the learning aims and intentions of each individual lesson within a unit are followed for each lesson. These planning documents ensure that teachers know what to teach and how to teach it in each lesson, across whole units and across each scholastic term.
Pupils will be aware of their own learning goals and progression as each unit offers a pupil friendly overview so that all pupils can review their own learning at the start and at the end of each unit. Each child will have a copy of the knowledge organiser for the unit to refer to.
Children are expected to make good or better than good progress in their foreign language learning and their individual progress is tracked and reported to pupils and parents / carers in line with school recommendations.
If pupils are not progressing in line with expectations, this will be identified in the End of Unit Skills Assessments provided in the Language Angels Tracking & Progression Tool. This enables teachers to put in place an early intervention programme to address any areas that require attention in any of the language learning skills.
Inclusion and Differentiation
As is the case for all of our subjects at St Michael’s Primary School, Foreign Language teaching is fully inclusive. Observations and studies have shown that children with additional needs or English as a second language can derive particular benefit from taking part in Foreign Languages learning activities in which they may be less disadvantaged than in other areas of the curriculum. Language learning activities are planned in such a way as to encourage the full and active participation of all pupils. Work is differentiated as appropriate to the needs of individual.