MFL - Hello, Bonjour, Hola, Ciao, Guten Tag, 

Intent

At Flitwick Lower School the intention of our MFL curriculum is to develop an interest in and a curiosity for learning other languages. We aim to provide all of our children with a high-quality education in MFL, which develops their love of learning about other languages and cultures.Learning other language gives children a new perspective on the world, encouraging them further understand their own cultures and those of others.

The teaching should enable children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond in both speech and writing. Language teaching should ensure children are engaged and prepared to continue to learn languages at secondary school. It should provide the foundation for learning further languages later in life, meaning children aspire to visit, study and work in other countries.

Implementation

At Flitwick Lower we embrace not only the language but the culture of countries that are associated with the language. This is delivered through our language of the month, which enables all children regardless of age to experience a variety of different language across the world.

French lessons in KS2 are based upon the Language Angels scheme of work, with early language lessons taught in Year 3 and 4 carefully sequenced to link with the intermediate level lessons used in Year 5 & 6 at our feeder Middle School. Lessons are sequenced so that prior learning is considered and opportunities for revision of language, phonics and grammatical concepts are built in, with new skills then introduced. The structure and context of lessons provides children with an insight into the culture, traditions and special celebrations of French-speaking countries and communities and enables comparison with their own experiences. 

KS1 children and children in Early Years are introduced to MFL more informally, through songs and the language of the month activities. Songs are often learnt in assemblies or in preparation for school performances which makes language learning more meaningful and gives it a purpose.

Impact

The language of the month enables children to develop and understanding and respect of different cultures.  This also enables us to celebrate other languages and the cultures within which these are spoken, celebrating the differing heritage of some of our pupils, giving bilingual children and their families the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and to broaden the language skills of all children and staff. We want to ensure that studying a foreign language can be enjoyed by the whole school community, particularly encouraging children to embark on further language studies.