Outstanding Primary Languages Subject Leadership 1

Outstanding Primary Languages Subject Leadership

Ellie Chettle Cully echettlecully@hazel.leicester.sch.uk @ECCMFL myprimarylanguagesclassroom.com

Introductions

• Name.
• Where you are in the country.
• Your role (Subject Lead, Specliast Teacher etc.)
• Which language is taught in your school and to which age group.
• How much time is dedicated to MFL learning in your school timetable.

Aims of today's session

Briefly consider the role and responsibilities of the MFL subject lead in a primary setting.

Unpick and analyse the Programme of Study for languages at KS2.

Consider how we might select or create a scheme of work which ensures substantial and sustained progress over the four years of study at KS2.

Explore how we might monitor and record evidence of pupil achievement in languages.

Consider how to create successful cross-phase partnerships for the purposes of transition.

SECTIOn 1

BackGround and Possible Models

What could languages teaching and leadership look like in the primary setting?

Background Information

• Languages has been a statutory element of the primary curriculum since 2014.
• Critical if government are to reach their target of 90% of pupils study the suite of subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) by 2025.
• They form part of a broad and balanced curriculum and help children to understand what it is to be a global citizen.
• No specific time allocation has ever been set out in statute and lessons can range from 30 minutes to 60 minutes a week..
• Academy Trusts must provide pupils with a languages curriculum which offers the same scope and ambition as that outlined in the DfE Programme of Study.

Progress is key!

Three POssible MOdels

• a specialist teacher is brought into school to teach languages
• a teacher or TA in school takes responsibility for its organisation and delivery
• a native speaker member of staff is asked to lead the subject

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Breaking down the Programme of study

How should we be using this document to help us plan and deliver languages in a primary setting?

Key Stage Two Framework

No longer in use but full of great ideas and resources, so worth a look.

Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.

Purpose of study

• 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.

Aims

Breakout Rooms

What do you notice about the Attainment Targets? Do you spot any potential issues?

• Targets very broad and not broken down into stages or milestones.
• This makes it hard to demonstrate progression over time because we cannot show when and how targets were met.
• Targets must be met repeatedly and at different levels of challenge to truly demonstrate progress.
• With a lack of marker points provided along the way, we need to break down each target to ensure that we can demonstrate progression.
• Meeting a point of attainment on the scheme of work is not the same as demonstrating progression.

Smaller steps needed

Subject content

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
• present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
• read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing Languages – key stage 2 3
• understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.

Schemes of work

Schemes of work to help get you started

• Lightbulb Languages: free online schemes for French, Spanish and more as well as resources.
• The Institut Français Primary French Project: free online scheme and resources.
• rachelhawkes.com: free scheme and resources for French and Spanish.

• Catherine Cheater - Golden Daffodils: French scheme.
• Cave Languages: free online French scheme of work as well as advice on best practice.
• La Jolie Ronde: French or Spanish scheme.
• Language Angels: requires a yearly subscription.

Checklist for evalutating a Scheme of work

• Is it user-friendly?
• Is it cross-referenced to the Languages Programme of Study?
• Does it include sound files for listening activities?
• Does it give pupils opportunities to speak, listen, read and write?
• Does it develop phonic knowledge?
• Are pupils given opportunities to build and manipulate sentences, including questions?
• Does it teach grammar and dictionary skills?
• Do children learn to appreciate literature in the target language?
• Does it develop cultural awareness (including the French, Spanish or German-speaking worlds)?
• Are children introduced to important, high-frequency vocabulary.

• Are progression and opporunties to re-visit learning built in?
• Is it differentiated to ensure progress for all?

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Ensuring progression

What might progress in languages look like over the four years of study at KS2?

Who?

What is the purpose?

To know what they know, what they need to know and how to improve.

Child

To know what learners know (against identified targets), to inform teaching, to account for and respond to individual differences.

Teacher

The import ance of monitoring pupil progress

To know how well a child is progressing and why and how they can improve.

Parent

To know how whole classes are performing against identified targets and to be able to account for individual differences between current and targeted performace.

Subject Lead

To know how how whole cohorts in one subject area are performing against identified targets. .

SLT

By the end of Year 6, Children...

• Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.
• Can introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have.
• Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
• Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
• Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
• Can describe in simple terms aspects of their background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

Reference: Common European Framework (A1 /2Level)

possible progression tracker 1

Breaking down an example target

Writing Target 1: Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

Year 3: Write and say simple familiar words to describe people, places, things and actions using a model. Year 4: Write and say a simple phrase to describe people, places, things and actions using a language scaffold. Year 5: Write and say a more complex sentence to describe people, places, things and actions using a language scaffold. Year 6: Write and say a complex sentence manipulating familiar language, using a dictionary for new language.

Breaking down an example target

Writing Target 1: Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

Year 3: Write and say simple familiar words to describe people, places, things and actions using a model.

Voici un lion.

Breaking down an example target

Writing Target 1: Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

Year 4: Write and say a simple phrase to describe people, places, things and actions using a language scaffold.

Voici un lion jaune et un mouton blanc

Breaking down an example target

Writing Target 1: Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

Year 5: Write and say a more complex sentence to describe people, places, things and actions using a language scaffold.

Dans la jungle, un lion jaune danse.

Breaking down an example target

Writing Target 1: Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

Year 6: Write and say a complex sentence manipulating familiar language, using a dictionary for new language.

Je vois un grand lion jaune qui danse dans la jungle.

possible progression tracker 2

possible progression tracker 2

Assessment in practice

Il y a un triangle orange et un carré bleu. Il y a une spirale violette et un cercle orange. Il y a un rectangle jaune avec une étoile rouge.

Je vois un ours brun. Je vois un cheval bleu. Je vois un poisson rouge.

J’habite à Leicester. Dans ma ville, il y a un parc et une rivière mais il n’y a pas de forêt. Il y a aussi une bibliothèque et une cathédrale. Dans ma ville il y a un hôpital et un musée.

Voici le renard. C'est un animal qui a quatre petites pattes blanches avec une queue orange et des yeux noirs. Il est malin mais il n’est pas féroce. Il habite dans la forêt. Il mange de la viande. Il est orange et blanc.

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The importance of phonics

How can I ensure that phonics are embedded in my scheme of work?

ThE foundations of Language-learning

Vocab

Phonics

Grammar

Physical phonics

• Follows a similar technique to 'Jolly Phonics', using an action to represent a sound.
• Children then build up from this to graphemes which represent the sounds and actions.
• Introduces the new sounds through high-frequency words such as colours, days of the week and months of the year.
• Really great webinar on how to embed phonics into your current scheme of work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD1smFrAQ5Q

Physcial Spanish Phonics and Physical French Phonics

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supporting SEND learners

How can we ensure progression for all pupils?

Supporting listening for SEND pupils

Cloze activity

+info

Getting to grips with reading

• Shorter versions of the same text.
• Illustrations to support understanding.
• Use of glossary rather than dictionary.

SCAFFOLDING SPEAKING AND WRITING

Trapdoor-style activities

SCAFFOLDING SPEAKING AND WRITING

+info

scaffolding speaking and writiing

• Use manipulatives to allow children to move words around before committing pen to paper.
• Colour-code words according to their word class to support understanding.

SCAFFOLDING SPEAKING AND WRITING

Keeping resources 'open-ended'

Resource credit: Catriona Egan

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evidence of progress

How do I best showcase all that my learners can do?

RECORDING EVIDENCE

Video recordings

Photos

Post-it notes

Displays

Worksheets

CREATING ENGAGEMENT IN WRITING

Concertina book

People pillars

Hexagon books

Triaramas

https://changing-phase.blogspot.com/p/mini-books.html

Lift the flap books

Pocket books

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Transition

How can I ensure that my pupils are secondary-ready?

forging links with secondaries

• Cross-phase observations
• Regular liaison meetings to discuss planning (particularly for Year 6)

• Taster Days
• Collaborative planning of transition units
• Sharing data.

https://allconnectblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/all-connect-transition-toolkit.pdf

Next Session:Thursday 9th December 2021 16.00 - 18.30 Focus: preparing for an Ofsted deep dive