Steve Gibson from Plymouth reports on his work in school with Gifted and Talented language learners.

We are due an Ofsted Inspection any minute; everybody in school is on high alert! The notice boards are ready, the paperwork is primed, an unusually high amount of chocolate is being consumed by all the staff, and our head teacher is running around ensuring that every box has been ticked! Our School Development Plan focus this year is Gifted and Talented (G&T) provision across the curriculum, but I’m already ahead with our work in languages.

Every child at Hyde Park Junior School receives forty minutes of French each week. We use a home-grown scheme of work integrated with the class topics, with clear progression; language is only ever taught if it has the potential to be useful. During each six week unit we have a taster session based on a ‘guest language’; parents of children with English as an additional language are very often willing to contribute, as are trainee teachers on international placements at local colleges. This term year groups will be introduced to some Dutch, German, Portuguese and Arabic. From May, thanks to our International Schools Award connections at the local authority, we are also offering our G&T pupils in Year 6 Mandarin lessons, so that they can apply their language learning skills in a whole new context.

Every child is assessed according the National Curriculum Descriptors using activities based around those on National Curriculum in Action and we are considering using Asset Languages to award many of our Year 6 with a formal qualification.

We recently ordered a batch of story books - these are used in lessons, but also lent to G&T pupils so that they can develop their reading skills independently. Dictionaries are available for the children at all times. Posters showing French grammar will soon be installed in year 5/6 classrooms and date-strips will be in every class. We also use Languages Online, BoardWorks and BBC Active ML Software on the Interactive Whiteboards; gifted children are pointed towards these during their free time.

This year, our Academic Council arranged a French languages exhibition, with drama and music from the local primary schools. Local dignitaries and well-known French footballers from Plymouth were pleasantly surprised by the quality of pronunciation and range of language in use. All Secondary schools in our area are keen to find out what is happening, and are often happy to visit and work with groups of gifted pupils.

I think that will keep my head teacher (and hopefully Ofsted) happy for a few weeks. I may even get a chocolate bar reward! The whole school curriculum is based on Global Citizenship concepts, from international cookery lessons to global art experiences, and language learning has become an exciting, motivating part of this school experience. As a result, children of all abilities have an open mind to different cultures and languages, and always look forward to their next language lesson.

Steve Gibson, MFL Coordinator
Hyde Park Junior School, Plymouth