Intent
The KS2 MFL curriculum for Years 5 and 6 is designed to build upon prior knowledge of vocabulary and key phrases acquired in Years 3 and 4. We achieve this through regular meetings with colleagues in the First Schools. Pupils reinforce their knowledge of a core of frequently used language and structures through further practice within a range of cross-curricular topics chosen to engage and enthuse children of this age. The aim of the curriculum is to develop a core of knowledge in Spanish, which the pupils can apply to their study of French in KS3. Pupils will develop transferable language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The KS3 curriculum is designed to give every pupil the opportunity to understand that success is achievable by all pupils regardless of ability. The KS3 curriculum builds upon the foundations of language learning introduced in KS2. At KS3, the pupils use a variety of resources to develop their knowledge and skills in French, catering for all learning styles. It is our aim to support and challenge pupils of all abilities, using differentiated activities, resources and success criteria.
We regularly liaise with colleagues in KS4 to ensure that our curriculum provides a solid basis for transition to the skills required at GCSE level.
Implementation
The KS2 curriculum focuses on a core of high frequency vocabulary supported by the grammatical concepts of gender, word order, adjectival agreement and high frequency verbs. We specifically choose topics in KS2, which are suitable for younger children such as talking about yourself, holiday food and drink, sports and activities. Some topics have cross-curricular links such as the solar system (science), wild animals (geography/science) and story-writing (literacy).
In KS3 we teach a variety of topics relevant to the age group of the pupils. Subjects covered include family life, the school day, hobbies and interests, new technologies, media, house and home and town and local area. There is a greater focus on grammar and sentence structure building upon the knowledge of grammatical structures covered in KS2. In Year 7 the focus is on language in the present tense, which then progresses to the introduction and use of a range of tenses – past, present and near future in Year 8. As the pupils progress through KS3, they are gradually introduced to skills required for the GCSE examinations, for example, translation into French and English.
All pupils in KS3 are taught how to communicate with each other during lessons in the Target Language and are encouraged to practise this in every lesson.
Impact
The MFL curriculum at KS2 and KS3 offers our pupils an insight into the world around them. Through the teaching of two different languages, they are introduced to the language and culture of many different Spanish and French speaking countries around the world.
They understand how languages work and develop the ability to manipulate language and the skills to decipher new words and phrases. The teaching of grammatical structures allows pupils to understand how to manipulate language for their own purposes, encouraging independent, enquiring linguists.
By the end of Year 8 pupils have made significant progress in their language learning journey.