Modern Foreign Languages

Intent
MFL at Thornaby Church of England School is taught in a way that aims to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for MFL, which will engage their curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Teaching should enable pupils to express their thoughts and ideas in another language and be able to respond in both speech and writing. It should also allow them to communicate for a range of practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read literature in the original language.

The aims of teaching Modern Foreign Language in our school are:
• To foster an interest in learning other languages
• Understand and respond to both spoken and written language from a variety of sources
• To speak with increasing confidence and fluency, finding ways to communicate what they want to say to others through discussion and asking questions whilst continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation through the spoken language
• To develop a wider range of speaking and listening skills which can then be applied into both speech and writing
• Write at a varying length for different audiences and purposes using a variety of the grammatical structures and features they have learnt
• Discover and develop an appreciation for cultural differences and structures in the language studied.

Implementation
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in MFL, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout Key Stage Two. MFL is taught every other half term, covering one unit per half term, with a fifteen minute ‘French Focus’ weekly. This is to ensure knowledge, understanding of basic skills is thoroughly embedded, and children are confident speakers of another language.

The MFL Curriculum at Thornaby Church of England School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the skills and knowledge taught. Teachers use the CGP Salut programme to support the planning and implementation of high-quality teaching, covering both core and non-core units across the year. Where possible teachers should follow the children’s interests and real-life experiences to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced. Teachers must continually assess the children’s prior knowledge and understanding to ensure work is pitched at the correct level and can be accessed by all children.

In MFL, skills in speaking, reading and writing in another language are developed through a multi-sensory approach such as rhymes, songs, stories and repetition, which are built on as the children progress through Key Stage Two. Children also develop their understanding of the grammatical structures of the taught language and how these structures differ from language to language.

The weekly ‘French Focus’ enables pupils to continuously practise and embed previously taught knowledge, in particular when MFL is not being taught during a half term, through repetition of spoken and written language. It emphasises the core units being revisited on a regular basis so children can build on their basic understanding throughout the different year groups.

Impact
Our MFL curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge, skills and discreet vocabulary progression learnt throughout the units of work.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
• Observing children speaking and listening in another language.
• Record of written work in booklets
• Images and videos of children completing speaking and listening activities.
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
• Annual reporting to parents.
• Learning walks.
• Subject tracking.

The MFL subject leader will continually monitor the impact MFL teaching is having on the children’s learning through work scrutinies, to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught. They will also ensure the knowledge taught is retained by the children and continually revisited and that the learners are able to apply the skills they have learnt, to a variety of different settings, showing independence with their learning.

Policy for MFL