Our curriculum is ambitious, diverse and research driven
INTENT
Hunsbury Park Primary School have recently started using 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 diverse range of 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. We aspire for children to be curious about the world and the diverse people who live in it, able to appreciate the differences in cultures and languages and express themselves in another language before they leave Hunsbury Park.
IMPLEMENTATION
The Teaching of French
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 learning is based on a research-driven approach, which takes place on a two-year rotation to ensure full coverage of each year group’s curriculum, with opportunities to retrieve knowledge and deepen understanding for the older year groups through appropriate differentiation and assessment for learning.
Staff are supported to teach French, even if it is not a language they are fully proficient in due to the nature of Language Angels and how the lessons are structured. There are audio and video clips to ensure correct pronunciation, as well as written resources to ensure correct grammatical work is given to the children too. Knowledge organisers also support with key vocabulary having been identified alongside the key knowledge the children need to learn in each unit. These support our retrieval practise approach and are then shared with children and parents so that they can practise further at home too.
IMPACT
By the time children leave Hunsbury Park Primary School, they are linguistically confident at a basic second language level, able to communicate effectively in another language and are ready for their Key Stage 3 language learning.
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. They can also extend their learning outside of school by using the Online interactive games on the Language Angels Website.
Assessment
Language Angels ensures a retrieval approach is used throughout their language learning units, as this best supports children in their recall of newly learnt vocabulary. Teachers will focus on areas that have been noted as more challenging for pupils to focus on, where necessary. Language Angels also provides staff with an end of unit assessment that can support teacher’s assessment of pupil’s progress. This involves both written and oral assessments, to ensure children are proficient in both areas of language development.
SEND AND DISADVANTAGED PUPILS
Our ambition is for all pupils to access the full French curriculum. These pupils will be supported to provide them with full accessibility to the French lessons. Lessons offer appropriate levels of scaffolding and challenge to ensure pupils learn effectively, continuously building their knowledge of and enthusiasm for the language(s) they are learning, at an appropriate level.
How Does French Promote British Values?
At Hunsbury Park, collaborative work is incorporated in language lessons to develop 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 to other cultures.
Our languages curriculum provides a basis for teaching and learning about other cultures, and this is incorporated into many areas of the curriculum including personal, social and health education and citizenship, geography, religious education, design and technology, music, art and dance. We ensure that learning across the curriculum includes a ‘flavour’ of the countries where the focus language is spoken. We have a focus on encouraging the languages and learning about cultures of those children that attend our school alongside this through comparative discussions in cross-curricular lessons.
The five fundamental British values are interwoven into the language curriculum, in particular how they relate to culture of the countries in which French is spoken and the similarities and differences to life in Britain.
Modern Foreign Languages Documents