Is there room for PFL in an over-crowded curriculum?
Kate Percival, 13th January 2025
The primary timetable has never been so full – we all acknowledge this I’m sure. For the class teacher, the number of hours on each subject simply don’t add up to the number of hours in a school week.
A recent TES article reports that ‘less vital’ curriculum areas are to be ‘combed back’ as part of the curriculum review, but how do you decide? It got me thinking about the real value of primary languages and just how important all of us here at Primary Languages Network believe it is as an aspirational subject with potential to better the life chances of every child.
The skills developed in PFL have the ability to span the curriculum. One example is the understanding of grammar terminology in English e.g. ‘verb’, ‘adjective’, ‘pronoun’ which are also used in a primary languages scheme of work. This cross-curricular reach means we can work smarter, not necessarily harder and reinforce vital learning links with other subjects.
Learning a language promotes communication skills and activates cognitive development which other subjects just don’t; memory and problem solving are strengthened and concentration reinforced constantly. Recall and true retrieval practice of vocabulary and phrases are always being worked on – these are just great learning behaviours in general! In other areas of the curriculum where knowledge and skills need to be memorised and recalled, the practice the children have had in their language lessons can only support this. The idea of ‘code switching’ or working across two languages at once only improves the ability to multitask and adapt to changing activities. And not to mention the ‘fun’ element of a primary languages lesson. Often children don’t realise they’re learning as they’re so engrossed in the language learning game or activity which create memorable moments well beyond the lesson – this is the power of primary languages!
Cultural understanding and empathy is another, sometimes overlooked, area which primary languages promotes. Understanding different languages unlocks young people’s awareness of others’ culture and tradition as well as their own, broadens their view of the world and fosters celebration of diversity. As a bilingual pupil, or a child with EAL, learning a new language in school is a great leveller as everyone is starting at the same point. Even better, it allows children with additional languages to shine a light on their home heritage language and share and celebrate this in the classroom.
In a world with so many different languages, can we really imagine a curriculum that doesn’t focus on communicating between fellow human beings and across nations? Yes, language learning has a perceived difficulty. But this struggle promotes disciplines like practice and resilience. Yes, there are barriers to effective pedagogy such as time and a lack of teacher confidence. But with schemes of work and CPD offers such as Video2Teach and Click2Teach from Primary Languages Network, the right support is there for the taking. And yes, we move into a world where AI is pushing boundaries. But this will never replace human contact, communication and relationships.
It's so important to recognise that primary languages contributes to personal development, prepares pupils for Key Stage 3 and beyond, and allows every child to aspire to become a well-rounded global citizen. And this is why we think that despite the challenges, languages play an indispensable role in a broad and balanced primary curriculum.