Rationale at Percy Main Primary

We live in an increasingly globalised world and it is our duty at Percy Main Primary to provide children with a high quality education in regard to Modern Foreign Languages and to provide an understanding of other cultures. It is vital that our pupils become conscientious global citizens so that they can live fully enriched lives.

The national curriculum dictates that all KS2 children should learn a language in addition to English. At Percy Main Primary, we believe it is vital that children in KS1 also access MFL to embed a love of learning with regard to foreign languages. Children in EYFS are also prepared for the learning of an additional language through games, songs and activities from other cultures.

Learning an additional language supports pupils’ verbal communication in wider subjects. As children spend much of their time in language lessons speaking, listening and interacting they are developing verbal skills which are vital in subjects such as Literacy. Percy Main as a growing number of pupils who arrive to school with English as an additional language. The additional languages and cultures that these children bring should be celebrated in our setting.

Intent

The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop a lifelong love of learning languages.
• Be more globally aware of foreign cultures and languages.
• Develop speaking and listening skills.
• Explore their own cultural identity and that of others.
• Have an awareness of a broad range of languages.

Implementation

Children access language learning through a range of activities and styles. Pupils have the opportunity to support their work through a variety of resources. At Percy Main we aim to apply a balance of whole class, group and independent learning and where possible we encourage children to use and apply their knowledge in other areas of the curriculum.

Children who speak a second language at home have their talents celebrated and their differences in culture is celebrated. A display board Is visible In the corridors of both KS1 and KS2 to highlight these pupils and champion the language they speak. There are also multilingual signs around school, welcoming the families of these pupils and supporting a multicultural community.

Delivery of MFL

In KS2 pupils receive one hour of MFL per week. Staff are given free choice with which language to teach. This leads to higher quality teaching as teachers are able to teach using a language with which they are confident, but also gives children a broader range of languages with which to become proficient.

Although not a curriculum requirement In EYF and KS1, our children in these Key Stages may still receive teaching as part of cross-curricular activities and classroom routines, as an
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 writing in the language studied. At Percy Main we additionally aim to enable our children to:
example, answering the register. This enhances both the EYFS and KS1 curriculums. Language songs, games and activities are highly enjoyable, motivating and Inclusive and also develop other literacy skills.

Lessons across the school support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing:

• Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games.
• Links have been made with the North Tyneside Language Team to support in the planning and delivery of MFL, particularly Spanish.
• Verbal work Is recorded and evidenced through the SEESAW app.
  We recognise that language learning has three core strands and each needs to be taught in order to have competent and confident learners.
• Learning to communicate (With emphasis on oracy, I.e. listening, speaking and Interacting.
• Learning about language (reading and writing in the foreign language and learning about the writing system, spelling and structure of language)
• Learning about and comparing different cultures (inter-cultural understanding)

While all three strands are of equal importance, at Percy Main we expect children to first and foremost be culturally aware of those around them, and around the globe. Teachers are welcome to teach languages they are comfortable teaching, though content is derived from the Long Term Planning provided by the subject leader.

Impact

Through teaching MFL we aim to give pupils a grounding in language learning and give them the skills to communicate effectively with native speakers of their target language. Enabling our pupils to become lifelong lovers of language learning will give pupils the opportunities to live in, work in and visit foreign countries. Having culturally aware pupils will also strengthen our children's ability to live In our multicultural country.

Inclusion

SEN pupils are fully involved in all aspects of MFL, teachers ensure that pupils receive an appropriate amount of support and ensure that all pupils are challenged adequately. We allow for differentiation by:

• Using peer to peer support,
• Using open ended tasks which can have a wide variety of answers.
• providing resources of different levels of challenge, matched to the ability of the child.

Assessment and Recording

Children are assessed throughout every lesson. Support is given and misconceptions addressed as part of whole class and smaller group teaching. The teacher uses formative assessment during the lesson and summative assessment at the end of the lesson to inform planning of the next session or series of sessions.

Monitoring and Review

The MFL subject leader:

• Monitors assessment and standards across school
• Supports staff with subject knowledge and assists in resourcing lessons where appropriate.
• Ensures proper coverage of the curriculum has been covered.

Policy Agreed: October 2019 Policy Review Date: October 2020