How we Deliver Languages

Impact

At St Margaret's we believe that teaching foreign languages supports our vision by developing a sense of community. 

Our aim through teaching languages is to:

• foster an interest in language learning and give children an understanding of the purpose of a foreign language;
• stimulate and encourage children’s curiosity about language and creativity in experimenting with it;
• support oracy and literacy;
• help children develop an awareness of cultural similarities and differences and to provide multi-cultural understanding;
• lay the foundation for future language study by pupils.

As a school and in accordance with the National Curriculum’s expectations, we aim 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.

Within our languages curriculum we have taken the decision to teach two different languages. The pupils study French for 11 terms in Key Stage 2 and Spanish for 1 term. This is because we learn about Mexico in Year 5 and 6 and Spanish links to this topic. Secondary schools in our area teach a mixture of French and Spanish, so this also supports pupils into the next stage of their education. 

In addition, we hold a culture day every September, in line with the European Day of Languages, where children learn about a different culture and learn to sing Freres Jaques in the language of the country being study. Key stage 1 and reception pupils also take part in this day to broaden their cultural knowledge.

Class teachers are usually responsible for teaching language.

• Cognitive and Linguistic Foundations: Early language instruction strengthens working memory, concentration, and problem-solving skills while deepening pupils' understanding of how grammar and vocabulary work.

• Cultural Curiosity: It fosters curiosity about the wider world, helping children appreciate different cultures and view themselves as global citizens.

• Transition Preparation: A structured KS2 curriculum lays the groundwork for secondary school (Key Stage 3) language studies, though continuity varies.