How to Teach Primary Languages in Mixed-Age Classes: 3 steps for Success
Mixed age classes? No problem!
Mixed-age classes are on the rise; therefore, more and more schools are seeking solutions for their settings. With a well-structured scheme of work, the addition of a Mixed Age Planning area, and consultations tailored to each setting, here at PLN, we can help you ensure that your language learners make progress using our scheme of work, regardless of how your classes are arranged.
Three steps towards a solution – consultation, training and documentation
Once class arrangements are finalised, booking your free consultation is a must! During the PLN consultation with an expert, which can be booked in the Staff CPD Journey area, the finer details will be discussed, and a plan put in place for at least the first year, with a provisional plan for the second year (because we all know that things don’t always go exactly to plan!) We will discuss why the approach will work (so that you can justify it), along with details of what progress will look like and documentation to be used to back this up.
After the approach has been decided, the best follow-up would be a Whole Staff CPD (also in the Staff CPD Journey area) to share with staff which stage is to be followed and when, show key documentation and make sure your tailored approach gets off to a positive and confident start!
Finally, using the Mixed Age Planning area and familiarising with the documentation needed is essential for the languages lead, to be able to show the progress being made, justify the approach being taken and support staff with this as well. These three steps are sure to get you off to a great start!
The most popular solution
For the majority of schools, the two-year cycle works really well. For this approach, we think in terms of two phases rather than four stages.
In my consultations with schools looking for a mixed-age class solution, I always refer to building the foundations (Stages 1 and 2) and pushing and extending (Stages 3 and 4). Stages 1 and 2 in the PLN scheme of work are where you find the introduction of core language, questions and answers, nouns, simple sentences, introduction of adjectives, constructing a sentence, and giving simple opinions. Stages 3 and 4 build upon this, recapping and extending core language, using complex sentences with opinions, holding extended conversations, using role plays, introducing of verbs and independent use of language learning tools (e.g. bilingual dictionaries).
The two-year cycle allows the children to follow one stage per year, alternating between Stages 1 and 2 for Lower Key Stage 2 and Stages 3 and 4 for Upper Key Stage 2. This approach works well because the big difference in terms of challenge is between Stages 2 and 3, so as long as the children cover Stages 1 and 2 before they access Stages 3 and 4, progress will be made without gaps in prior learning.
You can have a look at the structure of the scheme by visiting the Video2Teach homepage here: Video2Teach 2.0 French
Further consideration and finer details
There are, of course finer details to consider, such as how you can show the difference between a Year 3 child and a Year 4 child if they are covering the same topic? The answer is differentiation by outcome, using our Core Skills Progress document (download by clicking), which clarifies what we should expect to see from the children at different stages. These differences will be subtle, and the bigger difference will be between LKS2 and UKS2. The good news is that in the Mixed Age Planning area you can find documentation to support the two-year cycle, including the Core Skills Progress document and Long Term Plans spanning two years, to show the coverage in Year A and Year B.
What about starting younger?
Perfect! Language Explorers is a wonderful resource to use with your younger learners. Whilst languages are not compulsory at KS1, at PLN we know the impact it has introducing the language earlier. The beauty of Language Explorers for schools with mixed-age classes is that each unit is standalone, allowing topics to be moved if necessary, or simply follow Language Explorers A for Year A and Language Explorers B for Year B.
A different solution
The two-year cycle may work well for a lot of schools; however, this doesn’t mean it works for all settings. Here are two different examples, showing an extra challenge and how this was resolved. I can’t cover everything – In any school, it can be difficult to cover everything in the curriculum, so in this case, it was important to accept that the children wouldn’t reach the end of Stage 4 but would still be making substantial progress. Covering three units instead of six was the best fit, slowing down the coverage rather than picking and choosing topic,s which could lead to gaps in knowledge. The two-year cycle could still be used, with LKS2 covering Stage 1 over two years, and UKS2 covering Stage 2 over two years.
I have a mixed Y4 and Y5 class – This is the most difficult scenario! In this case, there was a mixed Y3 and Y4 class, a mixed Y4 and Y5 class and a Y6 class. The best fit was to use a mix of topics from Stage 2 and Stage 3 to try to meet the needs of both year groups. Using the core skills progress document again to differentiate by outcome helped with understanding expectations, and linking topics such as Stage 2 Autumn 2 My town your town and Stage 3 Autumn 2 Time in the city meant that the changes to coverage flowed well.
Moving forwards
Earlier in the blog, I mentioned a provisional plan for the second year, and that is where the all-important review comes in. It is important to evaluate how the plan has gone and make any adjustments where necessary, for example if all the topics weren’t covered, or if there was too much / a lack of challenge for language learners.
With PLN at your side, we can overcome any mixed-age obstacles, come up with a plan that works for your setting, accept what is achievable and work on a year-by-year basis to make sure that the approach still works. If you have mixed age classes in your school and you don’t have a solution yet, your starting point is your free consultation in the Staff CPD Journey area; book in and let’s get you set up with a bespoke tailored plan for your school!