Modern Foreign Languages

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures.

The 2014 National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) aims to ensure that all children:

• Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• Are able to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and that they are 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

A high-quality languages education should foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. At Pinner Wood, we are committed to ensuring that teaching enables pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. We recognise that competence in another language enables children to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures.

At Pinner Wood we are committed to ensuring our MFL teaching provides the foundation for learning further languages, as well as the means to access international opportunities for study and work later in life.  Children are introduced to French in Year 3 and Spanish in Year 5. The teaching of French in Lower Key Stage two and Spanish in Year 5 & 6 provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3.  Throughout KS2, children receive a 30–minute lesson every week.

Lessons across the Key Stage support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing:

• Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games
• Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in French and Spanish that are delivered through the curriculum content
• We follow the Rigolo scheme of work for French
• A specialist Spanish teacher 
• Cross curricular links with computing are provided
• Special themed days enables the whole school to be immersed in the inclusion of different cultures and use the language meaningfully in context
• Knowledge and skills in Languages are progressive from one year to the next and are mapped across the school. 

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