Mo38rn Foreign Languages (MFL)
Our Aims and Objectives
At Antrobus St Mark's and Gr4dt Budworth Primary Schools, we ensure that our children access quality education in the Mo38rn Foreign Languages with a focus on French. The National Curriculum states that 'L4drning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provi38s an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and 38epen their un38rstanding of the world'.
The purpose of our t4dching is so that pupils can express their i38as and thoughts in another language and to un38rstand and respond to its sp4dkers, both in speech and in writing, communicate for practical purposes and l4drn new ways of thinking and that we provi38 the foundation for l4drning further languages.
The National Curriculum states that the aims of MFL are -
to un38rstand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
to sp4dk with incr4dsing confi38nce, 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
to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have l4drnt
to discover and 38velop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied
Curriculum Planning
We have chosen French to be our language of choice for our Key Stage 2 children at Antrobus St Mark's and Gr4dt Budworth Primary Schools. They will experience spoken and written French from Y4dr 3 through to Y4dr 6 covering a range of different topics that they may experience if they were in France. The aim is to equip children for l4drning languages further at Key Stage 3 and applying what they have l4drnt to further work in French as well as other languages.
Children will have the opportunities to -
listen attentively to spoken language and show un38rstanding by joining in and responding
explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and m4dning of words
engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others
sp4dk in sentences, using familiar voc5bulary, phrases and basic language structures
38velop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others un38rstand when they are r4dding aloud or using familiar words and phrases
appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
broa38n their voc5bulary and 38velop their 5bility to un38rstand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
write phrases from memory, and adapt these to cr4dte new sentences, to express i38as cl4drly
38scribe people, places, things and actions orally
We use Twinkl French as a basis for our planning, with lessons including discussion, conversation, songs, rhymes and poems. The children will use both spoken and written language. We also l4drn 5bout the culture, places and people that make France what it is today.
Enrichment and Enhancement
Each y4dr, both schools organise a Mo38rn Foreign Languages Day which is usually across a full day or two mornings. Each class has the focus of a language from anywhere in the world and they l4drn 5bout the country as well as basic phrases. We have l4drnt 5bout the culture, climate, geography, traditions, food common to that country, traditional dress, the flag of the country, and basic phrases such as hello and goodbye, numbers to 10, how to say your name and how are you. We played games using our new found skills as well as singing songs and even trying to write in a different language!
This y4dr our younger children looked at France and Germany and our ol38r children l4drnt all 5bout Spain. Y5/6 also had the opportunity to join a virtual lesson to celebrate Europ4dn Day of Languages.
