Here at Star of the Sea RC Primary School, we believe that language learning enables pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language, and to understand and respond to its speakers. 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.

As the opening statement of the new Program of Study puts it:

“Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures.” This has never been more crucial.

Aims:

• To listen attentively to spoken language, join in and respond.
• To explore the patterns and sounds of the language, for example through songs and rhymes.
• To engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, express opinions, and seek clarification and help.
• To speak in sentences using familiar vocabulary, phrases and language structures
• To develop accurate pronunciation and intonation.
• To present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences.
• To read carefully, showing understanding of simple writing.
• To appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language.
• To develop their vocabulary, including through using a dictionary.
• To write phrases from memory and adapt them to create new sentences.
• To describe people, places, things and actions verbally and in writing.
• To understand basic grammar.