Modern Foreign Languages

Intent

At Mount Pleasant Primary School, our intent is to provide all pupils with a high-quality education in Modern Foreign Languages, fostering a lifelong love of language learning and cultural awareness. Many of our children are already bilingual, and we aim to build on this by teaching   Arabic,   helping pupils to become increasingly multilingual.

By the end of primary school, pupils will have developed an understanding of both spoken and written Arabic, the confidence to communicate with others in Arabic, and an awareness of the importance of languages in their future lives.

Through Arabic, we aim for pupils to:

  • Be engaged and inspired by language learning in a fun and immersive way
  • Develop strong language skills and a lasting enthusiasm for learning languages
  • Achieve together and share their learning through conversation

Learning languages at a young age also helps raise aspirations and broadens children’s understanding of the wider world.

Implementation

Arabic is taught weekly throughout Key Stage 2 by a specialist teacher. Lessons are carefully sequenced and designed to engage and inspire pupils through a range of practical, interactive activities, including:

  • Drama
  • Storytelling
  • Role-play
  • Speaking and listening tasks

Each lesson begins with retrieval practice, helping children recall prior learning and build confidence. Pupils are given regular opportunities for oral rehearsal, paired and small-group discussion, and the use of gestures and actions to support understanding. Games are also used to reinforce vocabulary and grammar and to promote quick recall.

Assessment is ongoing and formative, with teachers using questioning, discussion and written work to assess progress.

Impact

Through high-quality teaching of Arabic, pupils will:

  • Understand that languages have structures which differ from one another
  • Develop the four key language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing
  • Gain a broader understanding of Arabic culture
  • Leave primary school with confidence, curiosity and enthusiasm for further language learning

Pupil Voice

“Learning a language is helpful if you go to a different country.”  Year 6 child.

“Now I can talk to my Arabic speaking friends in their language!” Year 4 child.

“Learning Arabic is really fun!” Year 3 child.