Learning a new language opens doors and broadens our outlook on the world. It also provides a huge range of opportunities to develop our learning powers, particularly empathy, co-operation and perseverance. To find out more about what we teach and how learnng fits together, take a look at our skills and knowledge progression:  

• Skills and Knowledge Progression : Languages
   

The aim of our Languages curriculum

Learning a new language opens doors and broadens our outlook on the world. It helps us to move a step closer to understanding what it would like to walk in the shoes of others, and to develop a more rounded view of both the world and our place within it. For our children, in particular, it helps us all to understand the challenges that those in our class and our community for whom English is not the first language face everyday - and to better appreciate those around us who are fluent in multiple languages.

Language learning also, of course, has an obvious practical value for 21st century citizens who live in ever-more interlinked world. Whilst it is easy to sit in the UK and believe that ‘everyone’ speaks English, the process of learning another language and discovering more about other cultures reminds us that around 80% of the world do not speak the same language as us (and only about 5% speak it as their first language). By the time they leave our school, we want our children to be able to sustain simple conversations, to carry out simple tasks and to respond to texts in another language. We have chosen to focus on French, as this is the language most commonly taught in local secondary schools, and therefore provides a solid platform for future learning.

Experiences we want every child to have at Bedwell:

• Meet and talk to fluent French speakers (possibly secondary school language teachers to support transition for Year 6) 
• Learn about the other languages spoken in their class / year group / phase, with bilingual children given the opportunity to share their language with others 
• Take part in role-play and drama activities using a foreign language 
• Learn about life in France and its similarities and differences to the UK as part of their geography learning, to support their understanding 
• Read foreign translations of books they know and French-language versions of familiar films and TV shows, to both support language acquisition and intercultural understanding

This term's learning

Year 5  - Fox class have worked hard to develop their French vocabulary and pronunciation. Working with Mr Lester, they have begun to talk about themselves, describe objects, role-play simple everyday situations and even started to write simple sentences using correct French grammar.