KS2 MFL Healthcheck (or how to pre-empt Ofsted!)

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

The checklist below (which I've also attached as a word document in the wikispace too), is something I've come up with for subject co-ordinators wanting to keep an eye on their subject. You could use it to insure against Ofsted and similar inspections - but actually it's really about good practice and doing what's right by our children. I hope you find it helpful and please do feel welcome to amend/comment.

 

KS2 MFL Co-ordinator’s checklist:

Paperwork:

Do we have a policy for KS2 Languages?
Is it in the same format as policies for other subjects in our school?
Has it been recently updated?
Who is responsible for updating it?
Is there a governor linked to MFL?
Is there an action plan for implementing or improving MFL provision?
Where and how is the subject co-ordinator keeping track of student progress?

 

Policy:

Why does this school teach languages at KS2? What are the benefits for our children?
Are we meeting the KS2 Entitlement? Are we working towards it? Why/why not?
Who teaches languages? To which children? When? For how long? How often?
If a visiting ‘specialist’ is involved – what are their ‘specialist’ qualifications? Are they familiar with primary methodology? If not how is this being addressed? When and how does the visiting teacher liaise with the class teacher? How are lessons integrated into the rest of the curriculum? Or are lessons separate distinct appendixes to the curriculum? Who line-manages the visiting teacher?  What quality-assurance measures are in place?
If classteachers deliver lessons – what are teacher’s strengths & weaknesses? If needed, how are staff supported with their own language skills?
What resources are available? Do children have access to bilingual dictionaries? Are ‘authentic’ materials (such as video clips of real children, webcams & websites, stories and songs which would be familiar to native speakers) used frequently?
Are any direct or indirect links made with children or schools that speak the language(s) that we are studying?  Who is responsible for this? What are the benefits to our children?
Who is responsible for ensuring there is progression from term to term, year to year? How is this measured? (National Curriculum Levels? Mapped to the languages Ladder?  Using ASSET? etc.) Is this in line with other non-core subjects? If not why is a separate case being made for languages?
What does this school want children to have achieved by the end of year 6? What are our success criteria?
How is the issue of transition from KS2 to KS3 being tackled? What involvement is there with secondary school(s)? Who is responsible for liaison? Are regular meetings held? Is the experience of children in this school comparable to that of children in other schools going on to the same secondary? How do we know?

 

Classroom practice:

Do children and teachers enjoy lessons? What activities do we / they enjoy best?
Are the strands of the KS2 Framework – Oracy (speaking & listening), Literacy (reading & writing), ‘Intercultural Understanding’, ‘Language Learning Strategies’ and ‘Knowledge About Language’ – understood and given equal weighting by all teachers?
What opportunities do children have to speak in the target language? In addition to choral repetition, are children encouraged to do pair-work? Group-work? Role-play? Join in with songs or stories?
Are children presented with a range of language to listen to in lessons in addition to the teacher’s voice? (eg. video/sound files/DVD’s including native speakers in a range of male/female/adult/child voices)
Is reading supported by the teaching of the alphabet and key phoneme/graphemes in the target language in a systematic manner? What support is in place for teachers as well as children?
Are literacy links regularly and explicitly exploited? Do children regularly compare pronunciation/word order/ text layout with conventions of English/mother tongue?
Do written tasks gradually progress from copying single words in year 3 through combining nouns & adjectives (yr 4) to creating a short sentence using a core structure (yr 5) and eventually to linking short sentences with connectives such as ‘and/but/because’ (yr 6)? Are techniques such as ‘human sentences’, mini-whiteboards, paired-writing and word-frames used to scaffold writing?
What cultural understanding do children gain through the scheme of work? Do children have an opportunity to find out about aspects of geography, art, music, food and tradition of the countries where the language we are studying is spoken?
Do teachers make a point every lesson of asking children what they have learnt and how they think they have learnt it? Are children encouraged to share and collect strategies for memorising language?
Do children know how well they are doing? Are their views sought or considered in planning units of work?

 

[Caroline Smith]

As ever your work is amazing Jo, so much of it and such positive food for thought to help guide us in what we're doing! Have downloaded and completed this, with a few notes in red for my information. Will help inform my planning and focus me on certain things To Do.   I even think I might send a copy to Head to demonstrate what actually IS going on in the school, and I can see me taking this checklist to next PM meeting. Really useful , thanks for sharing.

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Glad it's useful Caroline - we all need the ammo at the moment I think to show what we are doing.

[Jan Lewandowski]

Hi Jo

Thanks for sharing this; I know quite a few teachers who will be glad of the doc. for their planning.

Glad to see you're still out there batting for languages! Wish I knew who else is still there though I can share a few names.

Jan