Liverpool LEA

Liverpool LEA is working with a cluster of primary schools in the West Derby area of the city, in partnership with 2 feeder secondary schools. Pupils in Year 6 are taught French for 2 half-hour sessions in all our GPP schools; some schools offer more than this.

At Lister Drive Juniors, all pupils from Years 3-6 are taught French by the Headteacher, and assemblies regularly take place in French. A recent OFSTED inspection commented that "pupils concentrate very well in lessons and are all extattentive . pupils acquire a very good accent and lack inhibitions at this age regarding the spoken word. The headteacher has a love for the language and communicates this passion to pupils."

At Monksdown Juniors, as well as French in Year 6, pupils in Years 5 & 6 are learning Italian through video conferencing and the school plans to introduce Spanish in Year 5.

The project is supported by the work of the LEA Adviser for MFL, Jan Rowe, who visits each class for half an hour a week, conducting demonstration lessons. These lessons are observed by the designated MFL teacher for the school, who uses them as a training opportunity, completing record sheets and subsequently planning an interim session to be conducted by him/herself. Teachers in the project report that this training method has given them the confidence, both in terms of linguistic expertise and methodology, to undertake their own classes successfully. All teachers involved in the project have been impressed by the response of their pupils and all are convinced of the importance of Primary MFL.

"French has given an extra dimension to our classwork and in the lead-up to SATs, an area of learning which brings no pressures and a common baseline. In fact, some of our less able pupils really shine in the lessons." (Y6 teacher - St. Mary's West Derby)

"Children are not only learning a language but it aids literacy, speaking and listening and raises awareness of cultural differences. It builds confidence and self-esteem. Every child shows enthusiasm and is eager to learn more." (MFL teacher - Monksdown Juniors)

"With pressures of SATs and N.C. programmes of study and numeracy and literacy hours on staff and pupils, the French lessons remind us what teaching should be about; communication, social skills, supporting each other and learning together." (Deputy Head - Roscoe Juniors)

As part of the project, we hope to track ELL pupils, particularly boys, to establish whether, in the longer term, an early start has an impact on their future attitudes towards the study of MFL. Asd part fo this process, pupils have been given a questionnaire to assess their views. The responses have been very informative. When asked what they thought learning a MFL would be like pupils generally replied that they thought it would be "hard", "boring", "confusing". One child said "I thought I would be quite worried and scared". However when asked what they thought of learning French now, there was not one negative reply form the pupils. Here are some of their answers:

"I think it's great and really it's boss and funny too."
"I think it is BRILLIANT!!!"
"I THINK French is fun and easy."
"I really like learning it and enjoy it."
"I think it's fun, brilliant, the best. I really can't describe it, it is brill."
"It is the best thing we do in school because if I go to France, I'll know some of their language."
"I think it is very good and I have learnt louds." (sic)

The cluster of schools meet regularly to discuss progress and plan together. A scheme of work is being developed with secondary colleagues in order to ease transfer to secondary schools. Formative topics are being covered and LEA resource packs are being developed. A recent EiC Language College bid in the area includes provision for an LEA PMFL Resource Centre. The cluster group recently held an INSET day together where Catherine Cheater, CILT Project Officer, provided a very enjoyable session on using songs, rhymes and making links with literacy.

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