Foreign Languages

Learning Foreign Languages like Mandarin is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. We recognise that high-quality languages' education fosters pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Pupils will be able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries. 

Children will become competent at reading and writing and lessons will enable them to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary. Once students have learnt basic grammar, this will then be increased in complexity, and they will be given ample time for practice and embed this into their long-term memory.   

Children will succeed in learning Mandarin because they will be taught ‘explicit instruction’ weekly by a specialist Mandarin teacher from the Confucius Institute.   The three main ‘Pillars of Progression’ phonics, vocabulary and grammar will be taught within our Mandarin ‘progressions of skills’, taught from Year 3 to Year 6: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. (With an aspiration to include EYFS and KS1 from September 2022). 

• Children listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.  
• They explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.   
• They engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help. 
• Children develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases.  
• Children become confident and fluent speakers of Mandarin and learn to apply this in a range of topics and whilst they are learning about Chinese Culture.