Livingstone Primary & Nursery School French

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.

MFL at Livingstone

At Livingstone Primary School, French is taught once a week to all children in Key Stage 2 and a Spanish transition course is taught in Summer Term to Year 6 pupils to equip them with the linguistic skills necessary for Secondary School in case they opt for Spanish. 

In the early stages of language learning we use games, songs, role play and stories with the emphasis on speaking and listening skills in order to give children the confidence to try out their new language skills.

Above all, at Livingstone we aim for children to develop a life-long enjoyment and love of languages! This is an example of one of our pupils presenting the weather forecast in French. 

National Curriculum

Click here for the National Curriculum for MFL: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-languages-progammes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-languages-progammes-of-study

Curriculum Overview

International Projects

To raise the profile of Modern Foreign Languages in our school, we have taken part in two Erasmus Key Action 1 mobility projects in Madrid and Salamanca (Spain) as well as in Paris and Perpignan (France). This Action was all about providing opportunities for members of staff to improve their Spanish and French language skills and gain cultural awareness through structured study, lesson observations, training and teaching opportunities. All members of staff who participated gained valuable experience of life, study and work within a different educational setting. This gave us the opportunity to bring in fresh ideas for language teaching and learning while becoming part of a European school community.

We are currently linked with a partner school in Léry, in Normandy. Our Year 4 pupils have the opportunity to write and receive letters, cards and pictures from their French pen pals.In addition, frequent video conferences help the pupils gain cultural understanding, practise language taught in class and experience global citizenship.