Help I'm A KS2 MFL Subject Co-ordinator - Get Me Out of Here!!!

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Ahem - look it really isn't that bad honest and help is at hand - shared below are top tips, tools and resources made and shared by members to help you out - they will be grouped together permanently on this link

National Picture, Ofsted expectations and background:

At present there is no statutory requirement to teach MFL at KS1 or 2, however the expert panel review has recommended that MFL should be a foundation (compulsory) subject within the new curriculum for 2014 from KS2 to KS4 (click here to download the report). Additionally this suggestion was put out for public consultation over the summer of 2012.
You can find the latest DfE guidance about what should be taught at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/...

The guidance is clearly aimed at KS3 and 'watered down' for KS2, so if you are looking for something more structured to help you teach, download the original KS2 Framework for Languages written by primary teachers for primary teachers, which covers everything in the guidance in a much more user-friendly manner and is clearly divided into progression by year group and skill, with lots of lesson and teaching ideas:

http://www.primarylanguages.org.uk/policy__research/policy_and_refo...

Policies for MFL in KS1 and KS2:

You need a policy to make clear to all staff, TA's, governors and parents who, what, how, when and why languages are being taught in your school. This is to clarify and improve the quality of language learning for your children. You might want to include:

• rationale
• resources (staff, dvd's and cd's, books, videos, parents and governors with expertise/contacts etc)
• schemes of work (write your own, buy a commercial scheme or download ready-made free ones - some of my favourites include:

FREE	COMMERCIAL
http://hiltingburyfrench.wikispaces.com	Catherine Cheater scheme http://www.goldendaffodils.co.uk/
http://year3french.wikispaces.com and similarly year4french.. year5french.. and year6french.. all based on QCA	Languagenut
TES Resourceshttp://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources/	LCF Club / Babelzone
http://www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland/	Take Ten (in French, German and Spanish versions - see here)
Staffordshire Learning Net	Early Start http://www.earlystart.co.uk/

and there are many many more....)

• support for staff (both where staff can access language and pronounciation support - click here fore ideas - as well as MFL teaching methodology - see the primary languages training zone )
• assessment / tracking progress (click here for more and/or see this blog)
• transition (Are you doing the same language that the children will do at KS3? If not how do you justify this? If you are then how do you know that the secondary is building on what the children have achieved? What information are you passing onto the secondary/secondaries? For more click here)
• an action plan / future aims (this is to help you make the case for cpd / budget, you might also include plans for trips, eTwinning, applying for an International School Award etc...)

Click here for a link to some policies that have been shared by members of the site but make sure your final policy fits the same format as the rest of the policies in your school.

Progression

Progression needs to be introduced and tracked from the childrens first to their final year of language. It is not enough to jump from topic to topic without ensuring that key structures are regularly revisited so that children move from hearing, to recognising, to repeating to producing, to writing and finally to remembering and knowing by heart the same core language. Progression is built into the KS2 Framework and some schemes of work but is less evident in others (so ask in the forum of the site if you are not sure about a scheme before you buy). Alternatively use the NC levels as per the ppt below:

What is progression in language lea from Jo Rhys-Jones

You can download supporting documents including templates and a checklist for subject leaders from http://talkaboutprimarymfl.wikispaces.com/KS2SubjectLeader

Finally - relax and enjoy. There is huge freedom in what you can teach, so make the most of this and exploit your staff's natural interests. Build a cafe and eat croissants, do some flamenco dancing when you learn Spanish, celebrate that so many languages are spoken in your school by the most unlikely people. If children leave your school with an enthusiasm for learning languages then you have done your job well.

[Jan Lewandowski]

Great stuff as ever Jo!

How did the conference go? Sorry I couldn't make it.

Jan

[Lorraine]

As usual superb resources from you Jo and good at this time of year when many new people will have taken on new roles.

Particularly agree with having an emphasis on progression, which we must comuinicate to our non-specialist colleagues, or more harm than good might be done in Primaries and add to problems for Secondary colleagues.