A missed opportunity MOST schools make with Primary Foreign Languages.
Language learning in Primary schools is a tricky equation for most schools to solve. It is a multi-variant problem, ranging from mixed-aged classes to teacher confidence, and coordinator ability to promoting a wider school ethos and managing a tight budget. It can be very frustrating, demoralizing, and discouraging for those involved in leading and learning the subject.
At PLN, we are in the business of unlocking a school’s passion for languages. Irrelevant of the situation, we can see the potential.
And we also know that there is something that most primary schools aren’t capitalizing on, and it is almost certainly hindering progress, passion, and promise with language learning in their school.
100 extra language lessons
If you were offered 100 extra languages lessons that each child received during their primary experience, at no extra cost, would you take it? It’s a no brainer right?!
Yet most schools continue to ignore this opportunity, and if you are reading this article you probably are too!
KS1- The missed opportunity
There it is, hiding in plain sight, the elephant in the room. KS1 languages. It is not flashy, it’s quite obvious and it also makes complete sense, yet it is still ignored in most schools. It is common knowledge that the earlier we start learning a skill the better, so why not languages?
We are missing out on 100’s of language learning opportunities for your children, as little as 15 mins per lesson/ week would make a significant impact on the progress and passion of language learning in your school. If you were to implement it throughout KS1.
BUT, It is not mandatory at KS1
It also isn’t mandatory for you to go the gym regularly, eat a salad instead of a burger, be a caring and listening partner, and look after your elders. Yet we still know these to be good habits to keep and maintain.
We at PLN know that although KS1 is not mandatory, it is essential if you are looking to make significant progress in languages. Year 3 is too late to start, in every other country across Europe, and mostly the world, children start to learn other languages at a much younger age. And have a much higher performance rate. What if you added 3 years of solid learning to your primary languages, imagine the impact on your school?
How?
The more challenging question is how to implement in your school. Languages is a tough subject to teach, and it is no exception in the KS1 classroom. This is why at PLN we have invested in building a reliable, non-specialist friendly, fun, flexible, and engaging scheme of work in French and Spanish KS1. We also are offering training and CPD for your KS1 teachers, to use the scheme effectively. It is built up on video and ppt lessons, with simple-to-use instructions and fun topics.
The scheme is designed for the KS1 learner, with topics on dinosaurs, pet puppies and Mr Biscuit, and will ground your students in the language, educate the ear with basic phonetics, and begin the learning journey effectively, so when they turn up in year 3, far further along the journey than if they hadn’t seen it before.
Why not join in and found out how we can help you.