NorburyLanguages
Intent
A high quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. At Norbury C of E Primary School we give our children as wide a range if opportunities and experiences as possible. We acknowledge our responsibility to prepare our children for life in modern Britain, particularly in the context of our isolated rural location. Learning a language enriches the curriculum, providing excitement, pride, enjoyment and challenge for children and pupils. Learning another language can shape children’s ideas about individual identity and community. It is widely accepted that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster new language is acquired. This supports the children in making a smooth and well prepared transition to Key Stage 3 and life-long learning.
Kingfisher Class is a mixed age class of Year 2 and 3 children. Although it is not statutory to teach modern foreign languages in KS1, we make the most of the opportunity offered by our mixed age class to begin direct language instruction for this class. One of our key curriculum drivers at Norbury is ‘Diversity and Equality’. For this reason, British Sign Language (BSL) is our chosen language for Kingfisher Class. Our school is situated near to the Royal School for the Deaf, Derby, and there are BSL users within the geographical context of our school and nationwide. In Britain there are over 70,000 people whose first or preferred language is BSL. We also have pupils who may use sign supported English and/or Makaton for communication. We believe that BSL should be valued as a modern foreign language in its own right and is a great place to start with our language teaching in school.
In Heron Class, Year 4,5 and 6, French is introduced. This builds a basis for transition to local secondary schools where French will be taught. Introducing French to this class also allows us to introduce the written elements of MFL teaching.
In all languages, videos and recordings of authentic speakers will be used wherever possible, to support accuracy in sign and speech. Without a language specialist currently in our staff team, teachers will model an enthusiastic and open attitude to learning and will learn collaboratively with the children.
The document below shows the core learning for children in in each year group at Norbury.
