Little Heath Primary School

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE POLICY

Introduction

This document is a statement of the aims, principles and strategies for the teaching and learning of a Modern Foreign Language (from this point on known as MFL) at Little Heath Primary School.

It was developed during the summer term 2014 through a consultation process with teaching staff.

This policy will be reviewed when necessary by the MFL Co-ordinator and as required by the School Improvement Plan.

Philosophy Statement

“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), Part Two page 4.

Aims and Objectives

  • The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
  • understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
  • speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
  • can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
  • discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

Approaches to teaching and learning

At Little Heath we believe in a communicative approach in which all pupils can actively engage in meaningful tasks. Spanish will be exploited to the maximum. Greatest emphasis will be given to speaking and listening, with writing and some reading where relevant.

Pupils should be taught to:

  • listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
  • explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
  • engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
  • speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
  • develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
  • present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
  • read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
  • appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
  • broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
  • write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
  • describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
  • understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

Tasks and activities will:

  • have clear, achievable objectives
  • be carefully planned and structured
  • be practical, active and varied
  • involve the use of ICT where appropriate
  • include whole class, small group and pair work
  • promote success and self esteem

The MFL Curriculum

MFL will only be taught at Key Stage Two, there is no statutory requirement to teach languages at KS1.

Approximate time spent on MFL within the curriculum:

Time per week in hrs. / Percentage of time
Foundation Stage / N/A / N/A
Key Stage 1 / N/A / N/A
Key Stage 2 / 1 / 4%

There is no requirement for an hours ‘formal’ teaching. At Little Heath, we teach a 30/40 minute lesson and then fill the other time over the week, asking questions, singing or during other curriculum topics.

The Role of the MFL Leader is to:

 Take the lead in policy development and the monitoring and evaluation of the scheme of work to ensure progression and continuity in MFL throughout the school.

 Support colleagues in their development of planning, implementation of the scheme of work and in assessment of the children’s progress.

 Monitor progress in MFL and advise on action needed and areas for future focus or development.

 Take responsibility for the purchase and organisation of central resources for MFL and to manage the budget.

 Keep up-to-date with developments in language education and disseminate information to colleagues as appropriate, including professional development opportunities.

Planning, monitoring and evaluation

Planning for MFL consists of three types: long term plans, medium term plans and short term plans.

Long term

The QCA document for MFL outlines the learning objectives, teaching program and possible activities for each year group. This is used as the basis for the medium term plans.

Medium term

This includes termly outlines of units of work and topics to be covered, along with their main teaching objective and when they will be taught. The MFL Leader will periodically check these plans to ensure continuity and progression throughout the school.

Short Term

This includes weekly outlines of activities on a weekly timetable. The class teacher evaluates the taught plans to inform future planning.

This planning is submitted to the Key Stage Leader at the beginning of every week. The Key Stage Leader then checks the planning and comments on the class teacher’s evaluation of the week’s activities

Assessment, record-keeping and reporting

MFL assessment is a continual process, being carried out regularly to assess what has been taught.

These assessments are mostly formative and may be in the form of questioning, discussion, the application of knowledge and understanding by creating posters, mind maps, leaflets etc. and the use of correct vocabulary. These results help to inform planning for the following term. Children’s progress in MFL will be entered onto the relevant section of Insight Tracker.

Parental consultation evenings are held in autumn and spring and a written report is provided annually at the close of the year to advise attainment, attitude and effort in MFL.

For a more detailed account of Assessment and record keeping please refer to the Assessment Policy.

Resources

Resources are kept centrally in the teachers’ room. The resources include books, flashcards, posters etc.

The role of ICT

ICT is regularly used to promote MFL. Computers may be used to record work, including word processing, graphics, databases and graphs. Access to various websites (Espresso).

Inclusion

Differentiation is considered when planning a unit of work so that all abilities are catered for.

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Policy for Modern Foreign Language Little Heath School November 2017