Statement of Intent for Modern Foreign Languages

At Knightlow we love learning foreign languages! French is taught in Years 3 to 6 following Primary Languages Network which incorporates a variety of activities including stories, poetry, interactive games and songs. Children are familiarised with the spoken and written word when each new item of vocabulary is introduced and they are encouraged to make links between phonemes and graphemes. Progression is carefully built into Primary Languages Network', so that as the children work their way through the four-year course, they gradually extend their vocabulary and get to grips with using more complex language.

We take every opportunity to introduce new languages to the children and our cross-curricular topics are the perfect vehicle for this. Many of our topics focus on a different country, which allows us to explore culture, history, geography, music, food and language as the children investigate what makes each country unique.

We enjoy celebrating festivals and special events from around the world and we endeavour to incorporate a variety of traditional celebrations each year.

Modern Foreign Languages In Action

As well as the main school scheme for French, we aim to introduce children to a range of languages and help them to see how enjoyable and useful learning a new language can be. We look to explore different cultures and traditions whenever possible, drawing on the expertise of our staff, parents and families to help us. For example, the Year 3 children have enjoyed learning some Russian linked to their learning on space. The Reception and Year 5 children have immersed themselves in Malawi and Zambia Experience Days as part of our whole school project 'Under African Skies', singing traditional songs and speaking some Chichewa and Bemba and families have come into school to help with learning some Italian, Mandarin and Spanish. Developing languages and international learning has continued to play an important role in our curriculum even through lock down- families sharing their knowledge and expertise virtually.

As an International School, the whole school regularly holds an International Week, which involves each class researching a specific country, dressing up in national costumes, learning songs and presenting our findings in a celebration assembly. Our latest stories4schools book theme focused on a European countries and their Traditional Tales and Folktales.

Below are some examples of artwork and stories written as part of our 'Journey Through Europe' theme for stories4schools in our latest project. Some of the original stories were read to us in both English and in the original language of the country learnt about. This included Miss Demeter sharing her Hungarian folk tales from her childhood.

Developing Modern Foreign languages is a key part of developing our international work and French has been a key part of this. Reception and Year 5 were involved with a project called 'Digital Fairytales' whereby both classes worked on creating stories based on traditional tales and translated them into French for our French partner schools, they have done the same in English. Below in the Powerpoint presentations are examples of work done on this project. KS1 pupils also held a French themed day to mark Bastille Day, they ate croissants and pain au chocolat in our French cafe, visited the Eiffel Tower and learnt some French phrases.