The Subject Leader
I am Mrs Cottis and lead of MFL at Eaton Park. As MFL lead, my role is to support the teaching and learning of French across our school by supporting teachers, encouraging a love of languages and monitoring progress and attainment. I believe that learning a modern foreign language is a fantastic skill to have- it is something that I am extremely passionate about and this love for languages definitely transpires into my practise as a teacher and subject leader. Learning about cultures is essential for children to develop their skills of empathy, understanding of the world.
To support learning, we have vocabulary mats, knowledge organisers, progressive maps of objectives and created exemplifications of end of KS2 material for each year band to assist with their French sessions and also to map out expectations clearly. In order to understand how my subject is taught, I monitor the teaching of French through learning walks, books scans and pupil interviews, and to monitor the progress we use ‘tracking clouds’ for both pupils and staff to assess the objectives to gain an understanding of whether children are working towards age related expectations, at age related expectations or above. I also carry out subject reports and feed these to my subject coach, Mrs Bell and link governors, Mr Kelsall and Mr Law.
The Curriculum
Our curriculum aligns with the objectives set out by the National curriculum:
Key Stage Two
– listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
– explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
– engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
– speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
– develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
– present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
– read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
– appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
– broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
– write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
– describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
– understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to
Early Years Foundation Stage
The learning of a modern foreign language is linked to Early Years practice through the delivery of understanding the world around us. Children learn about the wider world, creating passports for the different countries they visit and then learn various words for hello in multiple languages.
Assessment for learning
Most assessment for learning that takes place for the learning of a modern foreign language is highly practical- we listen to our children when they engage in conversations and during role play activities. On the completion of written work, teachers provide children with feedback through marking and discussions. At the end of each term, formal summative assessments are undertaken via the PLN ‘tracking clouds’ where teachers track whether children are emerging, securing and exceeding. We also use knowledge recalls at the beginning of every lesson to revisit previous concepts/ vocabulary to embed learning for our pupils and to inform future planning.
MFL within other curriculum subjects
SMSC– One of the fundamental concepts of learning a modern foreign language is linking the knowledge and understanding of the cultural aspects closely to the language itself. It is essential for our children to understand where in the world French is taught and some of the cultural similarities and differences between those countries and ours.
Social- Allows pupils to deepen their understanding of the world around them.
Moral- Allows pupils to empathise with people who have English as an additional language and also to gain an insight into other cultures compared to ours.
Spiritual- Encouraging group work.
Cultural- Enables pupils to compare countries and cultures thinking about similarities and differences.
English– The learning of a modern foreign language links closely to developing and enhancing speaking and listening within English. It helps to encourage presentation and conversational skills through role play and games. It also further supports the understanding of linguistic features such as: rhythm, rhyme and sentence building (question and response).
Maths– We aim to learn a modern foreign language through predominantly games, chanting, songs and role play. This links to maths through the use of counting, ordering, dates and time tables which supports their learning and knowledge of mathematical language and concepts.
PSHE– It is also important for the children to develop their social skills which is evident through the learning of a modern foreign language whereby the children partake in role play, conversations with their peers and making links with pen pals in French speaking countries.
Computing– Interactive games, videos and songs are used to support the teaching of French alongside the use of laptops to be able to email and skype pen pals.
Geography– MFL allows children to discover where in the word French is taught and why it is important to learn this language worldwide- linking to job prospects. Children further develop their Geography skills by using atlases and globes to locate French cities, towns French speaking countries, and weather patterns.
Enrichment
Each year we host a cultural week at Eaton Park whereby the children engage with and participate in various activities linked to different world cultures and languages. In previous years, we have hosted African drummers, Indian food tasting, American street dancing, Thai Chi boxing, specialist Italian teacher sessions, virtual tours of countries, British Sign Language specialists who all came in to aid our learning. We also link to our feeder high school, The Discovery Academy for MFL for workshops and a specialist teacher comes to teach a year band per term to further develop language skills and to encourage engagement. These celebration days of modern foreign languages enabled us to achieve the Foundation Certificate of the International School Award, and we are currently working towards the Intermediate certificate. Using atlases, Google Maps erc, teachers are able to show the children different countries, cultures and landmarks, and it is a fabulous tool for learning.
