Curriculum Intent
The intention of the MFL curriculum at Biggin Hill Primary School is that children are taught to develop an interest in learning other languages in a way that is enjoyable and stimulating.
As a school situated in a monocultural area and with a largely monocultural demographic, we believe that it is imperative that our children gain exposure to and experiences of other languages and cultures.
We aim to heighten their awareness of other languages through specialised teaching and other language events integrated into the curriculum.
Covid Recovery
Through careful planning, teachers identify and review key knowledge and skills from previous learning and address any gaps at the start of each unit.
Teachers are aware that some children will have missed some units of French and use assessment opportunities at the beginning of each topic to ensure that all children make progress from their starting point. New skills and language are revisited in every unit of work taught.
Why French?
French is the language we have chosen to teach as a primary second language in Biggin Hill Primary School.
The French language is spoken by approximately 270 million people in all areas across the world. This makes it a valuable language currency to be fluent in. As a close neighbour of England, France is also a country which is routinely visited by most of our families and the ability to interact with people and understand signage etc is key.
French is taught during a PPA rotation by our HLTA who is a fluent and confident French speaker. When KS2 children are not in the rotation for French teaching their class teacher will teach the weekly lessons. The Majority of our teachers were taught French lessons at secondary school and it is the language they felt the most confident teaching.?The majority of our Year 6 children go on to Charles Darwin Academy, French is the predominant second language taught here (as it is in the majority of other Secondary Schools in the South East of England). We believe that the early teaching of French skills and vocabulary sets our children up for success in furthering their learning in secondary school, giving them the greatest chances of developing fluency in an additional language.
Why Language Angels?
KS2 teaching is taken from Language Angels. We have chosen to subscribe to this scheme of work because it has strong cross-curricular links with our History, Geography and RE teaching. There is clear differentiation in each lesson and an End of Unit assessment is readily available. Language Angels closely follows the updated National Curriculum expectations and matches their program of study.
Implementation
There are four strands of learning that run throughout the children’s learning in French. These are:
- Acquiring language as individual word vocabulary e.g. body parts
- Applying understanding e.g. making the links between english vocabulary and French, using them simultaneously
- Understanding spoken and written sentence structure e.g. French Grammar, male/female syntax
- Reading/writing/speaking French
New skills and language are revisited in every unit of work taught. Language Angels allows children the opportunity to learn and practise skills both discreetly (acquiring new vocabulary) and in the abstract (reading/writing/understanding/speaking in sentences). The skills and knowledge from these units are then applied in the final unit of the year but revisited at the beginning of the subsequent one. Lessons are a mixture of practical in nature and encourage experimental and exploratory learning with language.
The curriculum develops children’s knowledge and understanding of the French language, allowing them to make links between the French language and their own.
We ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all pupils and that there are opportunities to stretch the children’s learning.
MFL is implemented across the school. In EYFS and KS1 vocabulary is used verbally so that the children absorb some language before formal French teaching begins in KS2. Cross curricularly, in geography and RE children have learnt about traditional foods, celebrations and languages from countries all around the world including a French Day market.
MFL Curriculum Overview MFL Progression of Skills