MFL

Modern Foreign Languages at John Perryn

 

“Learning a language enriches the curriculum. It provides excitement, enjoyment and challenge for children and teachers, helping to create enthusiastic learners and to develop positive attitudes to language learning throughout life. The natural links between languages and other areas of the curriculum can enhance the overall teaching and learning experience. The skills, knowledge and understanding gained can make a major contribution to the development of children’s oracy and literacy and to their understanding of their own culture/s and those of others.”

The Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages (DfES 2005)

 

Intent

At John Perryn Primary School we aim to foster children’s curiosity and expand their language learning skills to help them to become global citizens. We teach Spanish as a modern foreign language in order to prepare the children to develop an awareness of cultural differences and diversity within society, as well as to develop children’s oracy in Spanish and equip them with key phrases they can use in real situations.

 

Why we teach Spanish?

There are 543 million Spanish speakers in the world and it is the fourth most widely spoken language. Spanish is the official language in the following countries:  Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

 

Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures. We want children leaving our school to have high self-esteem as well as understanding and respect for people from different cultures, lifestyles and customs. We want them to be flexible and adaptable, to think outside the box, to be good communicators and problem solvers. It is for these reasons that we teach Spanish to every child in KS2. Studying Spanish improves the children’s analytic and interpretive capacities as well as their physical, linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional skills. In particular, language learning stimulates children’s creativity and it is the best way to prepare our children for the next steps in their education and for the future beyond.

 

Implementation.

Our Modern Foreign Language learning at John Perryn Primary School uses the Language Angels scheme of work and resources to ensure we offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes. All pupils will be expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning - the ultimate aim being that pupils will feel willing and able to continue studying languages beyond Key Stage 2.

 

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 the primary phase. This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning and also helping the children improve overall attainment in other subject areas. In addition, the children will be taught how to look up and research language they are unsure of and they will have a bank of reference materials to help them with their spoken and written tasks going forward. This bank of reference materials will develop into a reference library to help pupils recall and build on previous knowledge throughout their primary school language learning journey.

 

The intent is that all pupils will develop a genuine interest and positive curiosity about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating. Learning a second language will also offer pupils 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.

 

At John Perryn Primary School, we teach a modern foreign language to all children. A modern foreign language forms part of the school’s commitment to providing a broad and balanced education to all children. Spanish lessons and teachers will ensure their full involvement and engagement within lessons and the efforts and achievements of all children in the subject will be celebrated.

 

"One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way." - Frank Smith -

 

Spanish Overview

 

To find out more about the MfL curriculum, please contact either the school office, speak to your child's class teacher or to the MfL subject coordinator Ms. Guerrero.