MFL Intent

At Bishop John Robinson CofE Primary School our Modern Foreign Language curriculum offers pupils in Key Stage 2 a 4-year course in French. Key Stage 1 children will be introduced to MFL through exploring other languages informally when appropriate. As a school, we have many pupils of West-African heritage, and so we will make links to former and current French colonies, and the influence of France across the region.

Language learning enables pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language, and to understand and respond to its speakers. In this respect, it is the development of practical, useful knowledge for all 21st century young people, yet it is clear that language learning is not only a matter of developing competence in another language. Important though this is, it is about the broader curriculum; about children exploring the relationship between language and identity, about developing an international outlook and an enhanced understanding of the world and their place within it. Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures.

Learning another language is full of rich opportunities to develop pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural experiences. Intercultural understanding plays a central role in how languages are taught, with themes of identity and our place in the wider world put under the spotlight.

Videos, songs, rhymes and stories all enrich pupils' experience with cultural insight into other people's lives. Pupils may try out aspects of another culture in their classroom, such as food, clothes or celebrations, building a positive understanding of key features of personal and national identity, values and beliefs. 

Learning a language equips pupils to express themselves in new ways. This develops their immediate sense of belonging to the wider world and starts to prepare them for future opportunities in modern life. Teachers look for opportunities for their pupils to communicate with pupils who speak other languages.