PGC: National Curriculum Alignment

National Curriculum aims: 

How Languagenut supports this: 

Teaching may be of any modern or ancient foreign language and should focus on enabling pupils to make substantial progress in one language. The teaching should provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and should lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3. It should enable pupils to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing, focused on familiar and routine matters, using their knowledge of phonology, grammatical structures and vocabulary. 

We cover a wide range of topics and themes which give a solid ground for pupils to move on to any secondary school and support whatever course books or exam boards a school might choose to follow. All four skills are balanced equally in the course and our Learn-Practice-Quiz screens allow for pupils to practise as many times as they need and keep going over the vocabulary and structures. 

The focus of study in modern languages will be on practical communication. If an ancient language is chosen the focus will be to provide a linguistic foundation for reading comprehension and an appreciation of classical civilisation. Pupils studying ancient languages may take part in simple oral exchanges, while discussion of what they read will be conducted in English. A linguistic foundation in ancient languages may support the study of modern languages at KS3. 

All our languages support practical communication and our teaching with Languagenut document as well as our lesson plans give practical ideas about how to teach the language being studied. 

The National Curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils: 

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources 

The Languagenut Primary Guided Course draws upon a variety of different sources, with authentic resources such as menus and posters. All our listening material is authentic as it is recorded by native speakers and the opportunity to listen to the language is provided throughout the course, with interactive flashcards and activities in every lesson. 

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding. 

Interactive flash cards and activities are built into each lesson, giving pupils the opportunity to listen to and repeat back new language. Our ‘need a hint’ button supports pupils as and when required. The teacher can play the audio and pupils can repeat the words with or without the transcript in front of them.  

• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help. 

Our speaking activities encourage pupils to practise phrases and vocabulary that can be used in all manner of conversations. Conversation tasks are scaffolded, and many lessons lead toward pupils being able to use a template to create their own conversations. A wide variety of opinions are expressed in all our topics that allow pupils to finish the Primary Guided Course with the ability to express their opinions about a wide range of topics. 

• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures. 

Using our scaffolded speaking activities that are embedded into lessons throughout the course, pupils can practise speaking in sentences and then go on to use the model answers to develop their own answers. Our lessons plans show ideas on how this can be done and are easily accessible to a non-language specialist. Our lessons and content have all been written by language teachers and contain all the familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures that a pupil would require to know before they leave the KS2 stage to move to KS3 and make good progress.  

• develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases. 

Phonics lessons are interleaved with topic-based lessons throughout the course. Using the Phonics area, pupils can ensure that their pronunciation and intonation is as accurate as it can be so that others understand them. The teacher can show the written world for all our activities and get pupils to repeat and read the familiar words and phrases that they need to make solid progress in their speaking of the language. The audio for words can also be turned off to allow pupils to practise the words and phrases being taught.  

• present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences. 

Once pupils have practised all their speaking for a particular topic or unit they can then record their answers which are then automatically marked and feedback sent to pupils. Presentations projects feature at the end of each year, where pupils are given the chance to bring together everything that they have learnt in a presentation to their peers, in a formal or informal setting. 

• read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing. 

Engaging reading tasks and activities are interleaved throughout the Primary Guided Course. Our reading section gives pupils the opportunity to fully practise any words and phrases before they take the Quiz. Pupils can practise their reading skills and simple writing by completing activities on our Sentence builder section. 

• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.  
• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language. 

Many topics include opportunities to reinforce vocabulary through songs. Our Phonics area supports pronunciation and supports any development of difficult sounds. 

• broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary. 

Every lesson on the Primary Guided course has its own vocabulary section. As well as being introduced to vocabulary and phrases during lessons, pupils can access Languagenut on their own devices and complete engaging activities that will enable them to broaden their knowledge and understanding of the language. 

• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly. 

The teacher can use our Learn screen to practise vocabulary and then get the pupils to write the words from memory using mini whiteboards by making the phrase disappear. Pupils can attempt the activities as many times as they want allowing them to have maximum opportunity to commit phrases to memory. These phrases can then be used in class and amended to allow for more complex or new sentences to be created. Our Sentence Building and Competition Weeks will enable pupils to bring together the vocabulary and structures that they have covered in each unit to form and adapt sentences. 

• describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing. 

There is a whole module based on descriptions, and pupils will be introduced to descriptive vocabulary throughout the course. We have content to cove locations, items, activities and people in all four skill areas. 

• understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English. 

Grammar is introduced in context, and each lesson includes detailed descriptions of the grammar covered for teachers to dip into. 

Through the wider Languagenut Primary platform, teachers can choose to include more explicit grammar activities that build upon the grammatical items that are introduced in each module. Many of four grammar points also have a BBC bitesize video to accompany them which explains in English how this links to our own language. 

• can speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation. 

Our detailed lesson plans include activities designed to build confidence in speaking from single words, to short phrases and full sentences. Through a variety of engaging games pupils are given many opportunities to practise communicating in the target language to build their confidence and fluency. Our Phonics games allow pupils to improve the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation.  

• can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt. 

Our course starts with pupils learning isolated words and phrases, with each term building towards pupils being able to bring together what they have learnt in longer written tasks. 

Grammar is introduced contextually allowing pupils to develop their awareness of grammatical concepts in manageable chunks. 

• discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied. 

Our stepped approach to introducing writing skills is comprehensively explained in our lesson plans.