The importance of phonics in a primary foreign languages scheme of work
The trending buzzword in the primary languages world seems to be phonics.
‘Progress in phonics first’
‘Ofsted are only concerned about phonics’
‘Secondaries won’t move on until they nail phonics’
These seem to be regular statements and phrases that are murmured amongst the languages’ world.
In this blog I intend to highlight the truth about phonics in primary languages, and offer certain perspectives and support that should be your primary focus.
What is phonics?
Before we go any further, let’s establish what this means. There are several definitions that you can refer to, but the simplest, most effective way would be
‘Phonics= matching spoken language with individual letters or groups of letters’
A system that helps children read and write better because of their understanding of how letters sound in a given language. Undeniably, this is a really crucial skill to teach and develop for your students.
When building our schemes of work, phonics is a crucial component.
But statements such as ‘Focus on phonics’, is shortsighted, and misses the point.
We have to focus on the whole process of learning a language.
We can’t just teach phonics alone.
There are other components of language learning that can’t be neglected.
I like to look at things from a sporting perspective. We can’t just teach footballers how to shoot, or rugby players solely how to tackle, and expect a massive improvement in their performance in a match.
These are important skills, but there are other things we must ALSO develop in order to see true transformational development.
What is required with phonics from the DFE?
In the department for educations programme of study for primary languages, there is one mention of the concept of phonics (phonology) stating
‘It should enable pupils 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.’
Just as important as phonics is the children’s ability to use grammatical structures and vocabulary to help them communicate.
We mustn’t forget that at it’s core “languages” is about understanding and being understood. And this is far more than just focusing on phonics.
In the purpose of the programme of study, the concluding point is
‘Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.’
This for us at PLN, is a far more valuable perspective than just phonics. We want to provide a robust foundation for children.We want to inspire and support children with their futures.
We want them to have a passion for languages.
What is required with phonics from Ofsted?
We had the pleasure of Bianka Zemke, HMI lead, speaking at one of our most recent network sessions. She gave a presentation that highlighted what Ofsted looked for in primary languages.
Bianka described the pillars of progression ‘phonics, vocab & grammar’ being carefully interwoven throughout a scheme of work as good practice.
She did not mention shoe-horning more phonics in to the scheme.She was looking for intention, care and structure in primary languages.
She wanted to see how primary languages had been designed to be part of the fabric of the school.
This comes directly from Ofsted, and you can watch the whole video via our platform, or our most recent blog post ‘What Ofsted want’
If your scheme is not conducive for phonics, Ofsted will mention it, but only to the same measure for grammar or vocabulary.
Volume not focus
A perspective I want to offer is the concept of volume of languages teaching, not specific focus on phonics.
Which child gets better at football? The one that does 10 minutes of shooting a day, or the one that plays football for 3 hours after school?
Now, this is of course an extreme example, but the answer is quite obviously the latter.
It doesn’t matter how good the quality is, without sufficient volume, progression will always be limited.
Instead of focusing on just phonics, we should be focusing on increasing overall time taught inside the primary school, using a scheme of work that supports all staff.
Instead, a much better question that we ask is
‘Why is primary languages not mandatory at KS1’
If secondary schools and Ofsted are so concerned about phonics, then why are they not making things compulsory throughout the whole of primary school?
We are missing out on at least 100 extra opportunities for languages to be taught within primary education. Imagine how much further along our children would be with languages if they started 3 years earlier.
Volume will always beat focus. But both combined, is fantastic.
KS1 is arguably the most potent learning time for children, a real chance to embed language, and yet most schools are completely ignoring the opportunity.
From feedback from our schools that do implement KS1, we know that 15-20 minutes of languages exposure throughout KS1 from a structured scheme of work, will make a massive difference to phonics progression.
Quality and quantity
At PLN, we want all schools to thrive with primary languages, from reception through to year 6. We want languages embedded in the nature of the school, and we want teachers and students alike to love learning languages.
Yes, phonics is a crucial element of languages acquisition, but purely focusing on just this to the disregard of a full programme of study, that inspires your children and engages your teachers. and is shortsighted.
More important focuses for primary schools should be
- To support your non-specialists in the classroom appropriately
-To be able to demonstrate progression in languages throughout the school
-To deliver languages from YR-6
-To find other opportunities e.g. register time, to incorporate extra language learning
-To ensure that all children in your school, including SEND, get a full curriculum of primary languages
-To protect the importance of language learning at primary level
-To use a scheme of work that supports all the points above
By focusing on these prioritiies, you will improve phonics throughout the school as a consequence of better practice in general.
I fear with this current trending hyper-focus on phonics, that primary languages risks becoming uninspiring by design. It seems that we are missing the point. Boxes ticked becoming more important than progression made.
We must protect primary foreign language learning
Phonics has its importance, but it is by no means, the be all and end all of the matter