Intent
The importance of learning a foreign language grows greater as our world becomes increasingly global. At St Paul’s we believe that through a high-quality languages education we can increase children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the wider world. We intend to provide a languages curriculum that provokes children to think in new ways and develop a love of learning about other languages and cultures. The languages we currently teach at St Paul’s are French and Spanish. Through our teaching of languages, our pupils develop their ability to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. We challenge our children to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language.
It is intended that by the time children leave St Paul’s they will have a natural curiosity about other countries, cultures and languages. They will understand that we live in a multi-lingual society and as such, being able to communicate in another language is a very valuable skill to have. Their languages education at St Paul’s will leave them engaged and provide a foundation to build on at secondary school.
Implementation
At St Paul’s, MFL is taught once a week by the class teacher. Years 3, 4 and 5 study French, giving them a depth of knowledge in one language. In Year 6 Spanish is taught in order to expose the pupils to the language and lay the foundation for when they go to secondary school. Content of the lessons is guided by the National Curriculum and our Progression of Skills document. Areas covered include: numbers, colours, house and home, in town, food and drink, the classroom, clothes and hobbies. Children are given the opportunity to learn and practise new vocabulary in a variety of ways, such as through conversations, songs and games. Our lessons allow the children time to practise speaking and listening in another language, with their peers and the teacher.
Impact
The MFL curriculum at St Paul’s provides our children with the basic understanding of languages and other cultures to prepare them for the KS3 curriculum. It is also our aim that children at St Pauls will see learning a new language as fun so that they will pursue learning languages throughout their lives.