Modern Foreign Language (MFL) Curriculum Intent

“A different language is a different vision of life” Federico Fellini

 

Our Intent

At SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School we believe that learning a foreign language is a necessary part of being a member of a multicultural society and provides an opening to other cultures. With a diverse range of languages spoken across our school, we aim to proudly celebrate and enjoy the nuances of language learning, whilst nurturing a love for communicating through new sounds and words.   We want to encourage children’s confidence and creative skills through the exploration of another language. 

Research has proven that learning another language means the brain has to cope with complexity as it deciphers and absorbs new patterns.  As a result, problem-solving and cognitive processes are improved, including memory, the ability to multi-task and an improved awareness of the structure of a child’s first language.

Studies show that as a result of these “higher cognitive” skills, that the benefits of learning a new language include higher scores in Maths, reading comprehension and vocabulary, by multilingual students, as compared to monolingual students.  Therefore, the benefits of accessing language learning impact all academic areas of a pupil’s learning.

The Spanish language is spoken by over 500 million people worldwide and we believe that it is the perfect language for children to be learning. At SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, children will develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of the Spanish language from Years 3 – 6. Through this we hope to inspire a love of language but also lay the foundations for future language learning as children progress to secondary education. We hope to encourage a lifelong passion for languages which will benefit the children in the future and allow them to immerse themselves in different cultures around the world.

 

Our Implementation

We use the Language Angels Spanish scheme as it meets our aim to inspire and foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. This resource is a thoroughly comprehensive and child-friendly gateway into Spanish for young children which carefully builds on prior learning as the children  move up through the school. Children access Spanish learning through a variety of topics, including holidays, food, directions and descriptions as well as many others that scaffold and progress language skills from year group to year group. Layers of knowledge are carefully added and developed until the child leaves Year 6 with a broad range of skills that will equip them to communicate with Spanish speaking peers and understand aspects of their culture.

We celebrate European Languages Day every year by providing children with a taste of international Spanish food and themed activities.  By year 6, children are skilled enough to progress to grammar based lessons, in anticipation of and in preparation for high school language lessons.

 

Our Impact

At the end of each unit that is taught, we conduct listening, speaking, reading and writing assessments to ascertain the level of progression for each child. In this way, we are able to comprehensively assess not only the children’s speech and pronunciation but how well they understand the written aspect of what they have learned. By the end of their journey at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School, our aim is to ensure that all children feel confident to apply the language skills they have acquired in reaL life situations.

“Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going” Rita Mae Brown