The teaching of languages to early learners is now widely recognised as a significant contributory factor in improving literacy, building self-confidence and broadening cultural horizons. At St Mary and St Giles Primary School, we aim to offer opportunities for children to develop their language skills whilst gaining enjoyment, pride and a sense of achievement. We aim to help them to express themselves and understand another language in both spoken and written form in a creative and imaginative way. We support our children in applying and developing their knowledge of languages and language learning in both their own and other languages, exploring strategies to improve their learning. We aim to give children the tools to use and apply the skills they have learned, building confidence and resilience in their learning. We explore and celebrate differences in culture and language and bring the children’s own experiences in to their shared learning and conversation. 

 Our aims and principles 

MFL lessons at St Mary and St Giles Primary School focus on children working as linguists and developing their literacy skills and understanding of culture and language learning. MFL in the Academy is taught through the Catherine Cheater scheme of work, which is linked to the National Curriculum (2014).  

It is our aim that through the teaching of history at St Mary and St Giles Primary School children will: 

• Succeed at some level in every activity 
• Know a little language but be able to do a lot with it 
• Feel confident enough to listen successfully while not understanding every word 
• Know about and celebrate different cultures 
• Apply previous learning to new situations 

In order to achieve our aim, we will: 

• Provide lots of language for children to listen to and read 
• Pronounce correctly the language that children learn to speak using native speaker models including songs, stories and recipies 
• Follow a structured scheme of work providing built in progression using manageable steps 

• Teach using literacy strategies that the children are already familiar with and allow cross-curricular links 
• Provide well-maintained, organised and up to date resources, including IT, which will support learning.  
• Provide opportunities for teachers to further develop their subject knowledge.