Wadhurst CE Primary School & Nursery

At Wadhurst Primary School, we are enthusiastic about creating lifelong language learners through the delivery of engaging MFL lessons which are accessible and inspiring to all pupils.  We strongly believe that language learning plays a vital role in our core values of curiosity, confidence and respect. We aim to celebrate the beauty of our diverse world by encouraging curiosity about other languages and cultures, allowing us to have a greater understanding of our role as world citizens and the importance of respecting other traditions and ways of living.   

Learning a language opens many doors for our pupils, not just in future career and travel opportunities, but as a stepping stone for learning other languages and to help pupils gain a better understanding of their own language. Studies have shown that learning a language not only develops the key skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, but also develops oracy skills as well as boosting memory, concentration and critical thinking skills.  

The National Curriculum Programme of Study says that ‘learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity’ - using stories, games, songs and traditional works of French literature, we hope to give our pupils the opportunity of unlocking the wider world around them, and the many adventures it may bring them.  

Why do we use the scheme we use? At Wadhurst we work on a two year cycle where we develop the children's knowledge through a 'spiral curriculum'. This means that children's knowledge of our target language is revisited and deepened each year as they progress through the school. At Wadhurst, our target language is French, and this is supported by the Salut! language learning scheme. 

Salut! aims to develop children’s core language skills of Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking through carefully structured, engaging lessons. Eye-catching content, relevant topics and the ‘short burst’ nature of activities excite and hold children’s interest. Lessons follow a familiar structure of vocabulary introduction, revision and reinforcement through the use of games. Additional Listening and sentence-building activities are available for most units to add an extra level of challenge for children. There are 6 units per term for each year group, and each unit begins with a song and ends with a story based around the vocabulary for that unit. These lessons are supported with worksheets which allow children to develop their reading and writing skills in French. 

Our teaching and learning approach enables pupils to think like linguists by identifying patterns in the target language, as well as making links between the target language and other languages, including English. 

If our children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the reflection on what they know and remember in regards to our mapped knowledge goals for each year group, tracking knowledge in pre- and post-learning challenges and through ongoing assessment opportunities in and across lessons. The impact of our Languages curriculum is that our pupils are curious about the wider world and other cultures, equipped with the skills to continue their language learning journey in the next Key Stage as well as outside the classroom, and confident in their abilities to grow as a learner. 

• 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 
• 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 plural 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 English  

• Recorded learning  
• Speaking and Listening tasks 
• Carefully designed lessons that provide opportunities for adults to continually assess for understanding  
• Questioning and feedback to support small steps in learning 
• End of unit self-assessment  

Beyond Wadhurst 
We believe that, when children leave Wadhurst CE Primary, they will be enthusiastic linguists, confident orators and good listeners. They will be eager to develop their proficiency in the Target Language, as well as curious to learn new languages throughout their lives. They will feel confident in making links between languages, and develop a love of exploring other cultures through their language learning, leading them to become thoughtful communicators and positive citizens of the world.