Hi, just a question about languages in primary schools.

[mummyloveslucy]

My daughter is at a nursery attached to a lovely private school. We are going to have to take her out though after nursery to go to our local primary school, as we are trying for another baby and couldn't pay the fees while not working or afford school fees and childcare.
I would like her to have the chance of going back to the private school for the secondery part. I've noticed that the private school teach french and spanish as part of their curriculum, but the primary school my daughter will attend dosn't teach either. I just wondered how that would effect her starting in year 7 with no experience of languages, while the children who have been at the school right through would probubly be quite fluent.
I know that children transfer from state to private all the time, but just wondered what would happen in this situation?

they maybe do french as a fun class, not on the curriculum, but as an extra, like lego club, or basketball etc.

I hate to burst your bubble but the children at the private school will probably not "be quite fluent" by year 6. They'll only be having one or two lessons in each subject weekly tops.

Most schools will teach languages from scratch in year 7. I really wouldn't worry.

Oh, that's o.k then.

I was just looking through the prospectus to the primary school and noticed there were no languages timetabled.

And I thought primary schools were rolling out a language programme (although the lack of qualified teachers is certainly an issue). DS learns French at his state primary. And no, he won't be fluent by the time he leaves. I wish

My son had French at least three times a week in Year six at his private school. He came knowing very little French and had to learn approx. 300 words in that one year.

There is a gap between state and private provision, IME. We did French clubs at lunchtime in the primary school but they were sporadic.

Most primary schools do some foreign language to some degree. This paragraph is quite interesting.

'Modern foreign languages (MFL) is not a compulsory national curriculum subject at key stages 1 and 2, but it is government policy that by 2010 every child in key stage 2 should have an entitlement to learn a language other than English. An increasing number of schools already provide some MFL teaching at key stage 2, and provision is expected to grow, both across schools and across the four years of key stage 2.'
Taken from here

So ask the school what their provision is / will be. Most schools should at least have a policy on it.

Most state primary schools are now introducing a foreign language as part of the NC, as MingMing says. Our school does French in Yr1/2, Spanish Yr3/4 and Italian Yr5/6. I wouldn't say they would learn enough to make a difference at secondary school level but it does get them familiar with the sounds of the language, the culture of the country and they mostly have a very basic vocabulary by the end of the two years - numbers, food, colours, phrases of greeting etc.

ds1 has been doing French since reception in a state primary, and has now started Spanish as well in Y2.

We've been looking around secondary independent schools and none seem to expect much language experience at 11+ let alone any degree of fluency, even in those taught since Pre Prep. Several offer taster courses of Spanish and German in the first 2 years with French, from whcih they choose subjects to take further if they choose. tbh with a possible first language speech issue you may not wish to introduce a second language in infant/junior anyway.

Hi, I have a daughter whose father is Portuguese and have done some research into this. You are right that by 2010 state primaries should have a language included in the curriculum. I am not sure how schools are going about preparing for this but I would suggest asking at your school and also suggesting to the school that they look for a provider of after school language clubs, where the provider comes into the school at 15.30 to teach for an hour or so after school. Independent schools usually have at least one language included in their curriculum already, I have found. If you really want to go for it, there are junior courses abroad to learn French, Spanish, Italian etc. In Europe it is very common to send your child on a language holiday but is not so culturally the norm in the UK, but that is changing with the increase in multiculturalism. There are also destinations in Europe with schools that provide family courses - where the adult and child are taught in separate group classes at the same time. The opportunities for language learning for kids is really expanding.

well, brother-in-law said that he had caught up in 6 months with the children who did have French at prim school.

I did French at A level and still can't say much in French...

I'd say a lot of primaries are already doing languages, my DD has been learning French since reception, aswell as a few friends dc's in other primaries aswell.
Just ask at the school you are intending to send her to

I am fairly sure that secondary school language teachers start from scratch. Although lots of primary schools do offer foreign languages, exactly which one is up to them. Our school offers Spanish, so my dc will not be any further ahead in French. I am sure that it is similar in the private sector, although French seems to be the language most widely taught.