“Languages are an essential part of a broad, balanced curriculum. Not only do they provide an opportunity to communicate more effectively with others, they also help children to understand what it is to be a global citizen. This includes the importance of tolerance and understanding, which is crucial knowledge in today’s world. “

Our aim at Tudor, which is at the heart of the programme of study for KS2, is to develop an enthusiastic and positive attitude to other languages and language learning. We hope to encourage a life-long learning of languages among our pupils in order to enhance their understanding of the world. Learning a second language will also offer pupils the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity, develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners.

We believe that to accomplish this, we should help the children to do all of the following:

• familiarise themselves with the sounds and written form of a modern foreign language;
• begin to understand a new language, and communicate in it;
• make comparisons between languages;
• learn about different countries and their people, and work with materials from different countries and communities, thus increasing their awareness of other cultures;
• develop a positive attitude towards the learning of foreign languages in general;
• use their knowledge of the foreign language with growing confidence, both to understand what they hear and read, and to express themselves in different ways;
• acquire, through all of the above, a sound basis for further study at Key Stage 3 and beyond.

We also believe that positive attitudes towards MFL for children should be developed by staff who are confident in the MFL curriculum and how to deliver this in a lesson. Learning languages should be fun and engaging for all, staff as well as pupils. Where staff are less confident in their knowledge they are encouraged to admit to the class that they're on the learning journey too. 

For more information on what this LOOKS LIKE at Tudor, read the document below.