Modern Foreign Languages

Subject Leader:

MFL - Intent

The aim of teaching children another language is to give them a broader understanding of the world, to encourage their curiosity about other cultures and to enable them to begin to communicate with those who speak another language.

Being a coastal school, with firstly close links to the continent but also European visitors throughout the summer months, we feel it is crucial for our children to have a cultural awareness and understanding. We want children to feel excited about learning a new language, show curiosity, want to find out more, not only about French but also the first language of their peers.

MFL - Implementation

At Stella Maris Catholic Primary School, we teach children French in KS2 and hope to make language learning a fun and enjoyable experience that children will go on to develop further at secondary school.

French is taught following the ‘Lightbulb Scheme’ which supports language acquisition incorporating song, games and stories.

We begin with lots of speaking and listening activities, allowing children to use the language in a practical context. Games and role play help to make the lessons fun and often allow children to remember vocabulary and phrases more easily. Lessons include a range of vocabulary and basic language structures which children can use to communicate about everyday topics, such as food and drink, sports, school, family etc.

Opportunities are always taken to celebrate different cultures and their spoken language. This takes place in the form of visitors and celebration days as well as regular opportunities to celebrate the children’s own cultures and languages.

MFL - Impact

Children leave Stella Maris with strong foundations for learning different languages. They enjoy learning a different language and they will show respect and curiosity for different cultures across the world.

Children have had opportunities to listen to stories and songs in French, so they can hear the patterns and sounds of the language, helping them develop their own pronunciation.

By the end of KS2 children are able to do the following:

• Understand the difference in culture and be curious about others
• Understand and sing songs in French accompanied by actions to words
• Take part in role play and engage in simple conversations
• Understand basic French grammar and some of the ways it differs from English.

They are well equipped to start further study of languages at Secondary School.

MFL Progression of Skills

 Our Scheme Overview