The Association of School and College Leaders recently advised School Governors about MFL in primary schools, addressing “Why we need to build keen, fearless and curious language learners in primary schools ready to embrace languages in secondary schools.”
MFL became mandatory at primary school levels in 2014, for –
- KS1 – 5-7 year-olds
- KS2 – 7-11 year-olds
But surprisingly, Ofsted’s subject lead for languages Michael Wardle has witnessed a very mixed bag of results. He explained, “…given that many pupils should have been leaving Year 6 with four years’ worth of language study, it was disappointing to see how many schools were barely out of the starting block with their curriculum.”
It’s a conundrum for many primary school teams, given the well-reported shortage of language teachers in the UK. But, finding an effective solution doesn’t have to be so challenging with trusted supplementary help at hand.
3 Brilliant Primary School MFL Boosts to Try
Forming a meaningful partnership with a well-reputed local language school has the potential to resolve your MFL issues, and keep them resolved, with –
- Term time after school and lunch clubs to reinforce and amplify your school hours curriculum
- Multicultural days that provide engaging and memorable experiences to students, bringing language learning to life with national foods, music, singing and dancing
- PPA cover during periods of temporary skills shortages, e.g. when you’re recruiting to replace a teacher who has left, or the provision of specialist MFI support on a more semi-permanent basis
Michael Wardle has seen many instances of external supplementary help significantly boosting MFL standards in primary schools, concluding that, “… where a specialist teacher visits the school, class teachers practised what has been taught during the week in between languages lessons”.
At La Academia, our primary school MFL teachers are all experienced language teachers of KS1 and KS2 groups. So, if know you’ve still got work to do around MFL, get in touch to arrange a free lesson to try us for fit –
- Telephone – 0161 4911444
- Email – info@laacademia.co.uk
Sources
Supporting Foreign Languages in your School: A guide for governors in primary schools, Association of School and College Leaders
Languages in outstanding primary schools, Michael Wardle, Ofsted