Modern Foreign Languages MFL

MFL at Westfield Primary School

At Westfield, the intention of our MFL curriculum is to develop an interest in and thirst for learning other languages. We introduce the learning of the Spanish language and the understanding of its culture in enjoyable, stimulating and practical ways. We hope to embed the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, with a large focus on pupils being able to develop their confidence and independence to communicate in Spanish for practical purposes. We also aim to build the children’s ‘culture capital’ so that they are aware of similarities and differences between a variety of different cultures across the world.

At Westfield, we have adopted the Kapow Primary's Spanish scheme of work for our MFL curriculum.  This scheme aims to 'instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures'.  

Independence

Individuality

Inquisitive

Following the Kapow Spanish scheme of work, we have designed our MFL curriculum to enable pupils to progressively develop their skills through the year groups.  The Kapow scheme of work contains six strands that run throughout the curriculum for Key Stage Two. 

These are:

Speaking and Pronunciation

Listening

Reading and Writing

Grammar

Intercultural understanding

Language detective skills

Teachers plan and deliver lessons that enable pupils to have opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines.  For pupils in Year 3, there is a focus on them developing their oral skills, before incorporating written Spanish in Year 4 and beyond.  To enable pupils to revise and build upon their learning in Spanish lessons, key skills and vocabulary are revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity.  In Key Stage Two, Spanish lessons are timetabled for each year group once a week, with the key learning being revisted at different times throughout the week, such as during registration or transition times to rehearse colours, as an example from Year 3.  

As a school we enjoy learning about different cultures and use opportunities throughout the year to enable our pupils to develop their knowledge of each other's cultural greetings, experiences and traditions.

Impact

Teachers assess Spanish throughout lessons using ‘assessment through learning’. This helps to determine pupils' understanding and their ability to apply what they have learnt to either a piece of written or oral work, thus enabling teachers to plan effectively for future lessons.  Pupils are given opportunites to practise their language skills outside of their Spanish lessons and also apply these skills to learning other languages. 

Pupils at Westfield are enthusiastic and show an enjoyment for learning Spanish.  This positive attitude gives pupils the confidence to speak, listen, read and write in another language and hold purposeful conversations with others.