Legal Framework
The National Curriculum Languages Programmes of Study for Key Stage 2 (2014) form the roots of Windmill L.E.A.D Academy’s MFL curriculum. From this national documentation, Windmill L.E.A.D Academy’s MFL curriculum has been devised, developed and personalised to our school community, having evolved from our values, vision, and mission statement.
Our MFL curriculum is underpinned by the national curriculum’s languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
- understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources;
- speak with increasing confidence, 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;
- can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt;
- discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. DfE 2013
Intent
At Windmill Academy we believe that the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils. It helps them to develop communication skills, particularly in speaking and listening but also reading and writing. It extends their knowledge of how language works and reinforces their understanding of English grammar. Learning another language increases children’s awareness of the world, encouraging them to understand their own culture and traditions while finding out about others. Additionally, the learning of a foreign language not only provides cognitive benefits, including improved memory, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, enhanced concentration, ability to multitask, and better listening skills, but also enhances cultural capital and increases awareness of life opportunities and career prospects.
The focus language taught in our school is Spanish. It is taught to Key Stage 1 children fortnightly and Key Stage 2 children weekly.
We aim for all Windmill learners to:
- develop an interest in, and positive view of, language learning by being introduced to other languages that are enjoyable and accessible;
- be curious about language and creative in experimenting with it;
- be resilient language learners, with well-developed oracy and literacy;
- have a deep awareness and appreciation of diversity, including cultural similarities and differences;
- be ambitious about their futures, appreciating how languages open opportunities;
By the end of Key Stage 2, children will be able to understand simple spoken and written language, to speak aloud and take part in a short conversation, and to write simple sentences. They will also understand about different cultures and have an idea about how languages work and how to learn them. In short they will be becoming confident users and learners of a new language.
The curriculum that we follow is based on guidance given in the National Curriculum, the QCA Scheme of Work for Spanish at Key Stage 2 and the Lightbulb Languages Scheme of work.
Useful Links
If you would like any futher information on our MFL curriculum, please contact the school and ask to speak to Amanda Drage, our Spanish teacher and MFL subject leader.