There is no
doubt that transition from primary to secondary phase in foreign languages has
always been a thorny and divisive subject. However, it now has clear focus for
change in the recent Curriculum and
Assessment Review (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report)
led by Professor Becky Francis and her team.
Francesca Pini, the founder and creator of Language Angels, presents what she believes could work as decisions start to
be made.
What Should Primary Schools Really Be Focusing on?
The basics! Primary schools will be given clearer
guidance in the coming months for the proposed changes and what the ‘core
content’ already mentioned will entail. All will come into play in September 2028.
In the interim, primary schools need to continue with what they are doing.
Focus on doing the basics really well but allow pupils enough language to talk
and write at least to text level by the time they leave primary school. We need
to enthuse our young learners, ensuring that they are excited to learn about different
countries and cultures as well as the foreign language, and that they indeed make
substantial progress (ideally in one language)! Primary schools must ensure
they offer a vibrant, full and broad curriculum that allows pupils to explore
language, experience different festivals and traditions, but, most of all,
understand how languages work with similar yet different grammatical patterns. Pupils
will learn to appreciate that many languages are gendered, and adjectives
change for example based on gender and plurality, as well as what is meant by
verb conjugation. But please no tense work! Schools should ensure that there is
a solid, well known and comprehensive SoW in place that can support all staff
delivering a foreign language at primary phase.
What Do Secondary Language Departments Really Need
Pupils to Know When They Arrive?
Let’s be clear – after at least four years of learning
a foreign language, pupils should be able to recall at least some of what they
have learnt in the foreign language. Importantly, they should know some of the
basics and understand what they have learnt. Secondary schools want consistent
teaching of the basics, an understanding of basic grammar and a basic
‘tool-kit’ of language learning strategies that can that be applied to a
variety of languages. Despite their best-efforts, secondary schools are not always
able to accommodate the same language learnt at primary phase, and the lack of
consistency means that pupils often arrive with varying levels of linguistic
competence and secondary schools have no choice but to start from the very
beginning again.
What Do Secondary Schools Need to Do Now?
Secondary schools need to contact their primary
feeders as soon as they can and see which languages are being taught. If possible,
they could align all their feeder primary schools to one language and insist
that at least the ‘core’ content suggested is covered in their SoW and planning
to create a seamless transition with pupils making progress at secondary more
quickly. They must also ensure that they are not advocating a watered down KS3
programme and should upskill themselves in which pedagogy and methodology is
successful at primary phase as it is different to the teaching strategies that
work in secondary. Can some primary teaching strategies be used at the start of
Year 7 to ensure all pupils have a smoother transition? If one language is not
possible, can schools have a short course to bring pupils up to speed with the
core content before moving on? It doesn’t have to look or feel the same as what
the pupils experienced at primary school, and if they have covered it in
another language this could be offered in the first term. Pupils should have
developed sufficient skills to be able to pick up the second language much more
easily.
What
Could ‘Core Content’ Look Like?
In my
opinion, this is the non-negotiable content every child should know before
leaving primary phase in the foreign language:
- Numbers 1-100
- Colours
- Days of the week
- Months of the year
- Greetings
- Personal details
- Simple questions
- Opinions
- Classroom instructions
- A tool-kit of key phonics
- A tool-kit of basic grammar (articles/determiners, adjectives,
negative, possessives, high frequency verbs, conjunctions, etc)
- A tool-kit of vocabulary based on the above: enough to say the
date, greet somebody, their name, when their birthday is, where they live, how
old they are and family details – with sufficient knowledge of language to ask
questions on the same themes
Added to
this, schools can integrate other units and topics to complement this core
language.
How are
Language Angels Preparing for Any Potential Changes?
I am always
proud to say that Language Angels already has a very broad and well
developed programme supported by the latest technology with a very experienced
skilled team of educators, linguists and developers. We are always ready and
well prepared/resourced for any potential change. We offer three languages and
our focus has always been on developing language skills as well as ensuring
substantial progression. We agree that a coordinated approach to one single
language is not always possible if secondary schools have a large number of
primary feeder schools. If boroughs and Trusts can resource this then they
should have enough secondary schools to adapt their planning and resources to
match. Agreeing a minimum core content at primary phase is a good starting
point and will support many teachers. We have always advocated this in our
materials. Alongside core grammar, phonics and vocabulary, what should a child
be able to do and say by the time they leave primary phase? Importantly, a
promotion of language learning skills and language learning strategies would
also equip our young learners better for future language learning (so decoding
skills, understanding the value of cognates, dictionary work to expand their
general vocabulary etc). All the Language Angels teaching & learning team
and resource creators are ready and always improving and innovating the website/materials
to ensure that we are always completely curriculum compliant. As Language
Angels has never been one learning pathway or one single scheme of work,
adapting to any potential changes will be very easy for our team of experts.
The team is ready to support and provide clear guidance when more details are
released ahead of September 2028. Language Angels, along with the Languages CPD Hub, provide a well-resourced and proven solution to primary
foreign language teaching and learning, with high-quality resources and
accurate language (I have found that not all commercial products in this area are
accurate).
