PGC: Ofsted Research Review

In June 2021, Ofsted published its curriculum research review about language teaching in primary and secondary schools. In doing so Ofsted hopes that it will contribute to raising the quality of languages education for all young people.

They point out that there are a variety of ways in which schools can construct and teach a high-quality languages curriculum and that it is important to recognise that there is no single way of achieving high-quality languages education.

The review highlights what might have a positive impact on pupils seeing the relevance of learning a language and in addition what features high-quality languages education may have. This document highlights how Languagenut can support you in achieving this.

Curriculum research review says:	How can Languagenut help:
Language-learning experiences that pupils perceive as successful are likely to have a positive impact on pupils’ self-efficacy	Upon successful completion of activities pupils are rewarded with points and unlockable achievements and are placed in a world ranking table which is refreshed every 30 days.
Knowing how to sound out words in a foreign language is likely to have a positive impact on pupils’ self-efficacy	Our 5 games in the ‘Phonics’ area help pupils to learn to recognise and distinguish different sounds, practise sound-spelling links and perfect their pronunciation.
Ensuring that the building blocks of language are in place so that pupils can exercise greater autonomy is likely to have a positive impact on pupils’ self-efficacy	Pupils can use the ‘Grammar and Verbs’ section to drill and practise key components to support them on their journey to becoming a more independent learner. Key vocabulary and structures can be regularly recycled and consolidated using our ‘Vocab Trainer’ and ‘Sentence Building’ activities.
Seeing non-native peers communicating effectively is likely to have a positive impact on pupils’ self-efficacy	Our speaking/talking activities encourage pupils to record themselves in an environment that is non-threatening and supportive. Our Open questions allow pupils to develop their communication skills.
Curriculum design should ensure that pupils feel successful in their learning	Modules cover all 4 skills/modalities and pupils can practice the language as many time as they want following the ‘Learn-Practice’ steps before they take the ‘Quiz’.
Curriculum design should ensure that pupils are clear about how to make progress	Upon completion of any activity pupils are shown a review screen of what they have got right and where they have made mistakes, so they are clear about how to make progress. The teacher can then assign any appropriate activities to close the gaps in learning.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features in Phonics:	How may Languagenut help:
Curriculum plans show clear logic behind progression in phonics, including around when to teach differences between English sound-spelling correspondences and those of the target language	Our ‘Phonics’ area has 5 progressively challenging games that help pupils learn to recognise and distinguish different sounds, practise sound-spelling links and perfect their pronunciation. Dictation games are available in the main languages, which allow teachers and pupils to focus on how words are pronounced as they listen and type what they hear.
Planned practice and review of phonemes and how these link to graphemes is in place	Our ‘Phonics’ area has 5 progressively challenging games that help pupils learn to recognise and distinguish different sounds, practise sound-spelling links and perfect their pronunciation.
Curriculum plans show how small differences in sound can unlock meaning for pupils	Teachers can use the ‘Learn’ screen in the ‘Phonics’ area to focus on a particular sound, ahead of any listening activities, to support pupils understand what they hear.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features in Vocabulary:	How may Languagenut help:
Curriculum plans recognise that vocabulary is an important component of language knowledge	‘Vocab Trainer’ has an extensive vocabulary bank of more than 2,500 words and phrases which pupils can drill using our ‘Learn-Practice-Quiz’ functionality.
Curriculum plans recognise the importance of building a strong verb lexicon, especially in the early stages of language learning	Interactive games practise 40+ regular and irregular verb conjugations across a range of tenses.
Curriculum planning of vocabulary, grammar and phonic knowledge and progression should go hand in hand, as they are all related and connected	Our fully resourced primary lesson plans interleave the teaching of vocabulary, grammar and phonics whilst our secondary resources are flexible and will support any curriculum.
High-frequency words are prioritised	The most common, high frequency and appropriate words and structures have been selected across all our lessons for practice in all 4 skills/modalities. Interactive games practise 40+ common regular and irregular verb conjugations across a range of tenses. Upload your own content to be integrated with all our games thus ensuring your own high-frequency words are prioritised.
Careful consideration is given to the topic-based vocabulary that is taught other than the high-frequency words	Upload your own content to be integrated with all our games thus ensuring your own topic-based vocabulary is prioritised. Topic-based vocabulary from all exam boards is available on our admin area for the legacy specification. Vocabulary for the newly accredited GCSEs is also available.
Ensure that these words can be used across different contexts	All vocabulary and structures contained in our games can be practised as many times as necessary across all 4 skills/modalities using our ‘Learn-Practice-Quiz’ functionality. Upload your own content to be integrated with all our games and choose when and where you want vocabulary to be revisited and recycled. Pupils are exposed to words across different contexts in our Exam Skills area and our Primary courses.
Consider how ‘deeply’ items of vocabulary need to be learned and at what point	All vocabulary and structures contained in our games can be practised as many times as necessary across all 4 skills/modalities using our ‘Learn-Practice-Quiz’ functionality. Assignments can be set as and when the pupil is ready to complete them. Upload your own content to be integrated with all our games and choose when and where you want vocabulary to be revisited and recycled.
Consider how and when to introduce more advanced semantic aspects of vocabulary knowledge	More advanced semantic aspects of vocabulary knowledge are met in challenge levels 2 and 3 in all 4 skills/modalities in our ‘Exam Skills’ area.
Automaticity and fluency are increased through a schedule of planned revisiting to ensure that words are retained in long-term memory	Schedule regular retrieval tests and assignments through the teacher admin section. Use the ‘Open Speaking’ and ‘Open Writing’ activities to support fluency and automaticity. High frequency words and phrases are regularly revisited in our Primary Guided course.
Automaticity and fluency are increased through introducing and using vocabulary in comprehension and production, in both the oral and written modalities and across different topics	Use our differentiated speaking and writing activities in ‘Vocab Trainer, Topics and Exam Skills’ to introduce, learn, practise and memorise vocabulary. There is no limit to the number of times pupils can revisit vocabulary to support them being able to use these words across different topics.
There has been strategic thinking about which words are the most important for the scheme of work so that teachers can focus on these to develop learners’ level of mastery	Upload your own content to be integrated with all our games thus ensuring your own words are prioritised. Schedule regular retrieval tests and assignments of these words through the teacher admin section. Our Primary Guided Course covers a wide range of topics and themes which give a solid ground for pupils to move on to any secondary school.
There has been strategic thinking about what pupils learn and when across the years of study (gradation)	Our primary scheme covers 4 years (from years 3 to 6) and fully covers the National Curriculum Programme of Study at KS2 Our KS3 and KS4 resources, plus the option to add your own content, are flexible enough to cover the demands of any curriculum or methodology that you choose to follow in your institution or department.
There has been strategic thinking about making links between words within word families and recognising similarities and differences between English and the chosen target language	In the ‘Phonics’ area use the ‘Learn’ screen when introducing vocabulary, teachers can use cognates to elicit translations from students if they hide the support language.
There has been strategic thinking about how to link vocabulary to external accreditations or assessments	Vocabulary from the main exam boards can be accessed via the teacher admin area and can be practised using all 4 skills/modalities.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features in Grammar:	How may Languagenut help:
Consideration is given to the nature and rate of grammatical progression, the complexity of grammatical concepts and structures and which aspects of grammatical structure are introduced and when (such as which parts of a verb paradigm)	Interactive games to practise 40+ regular and irregular verb conjugations across a range of tenses. Exercises covering 40 grammar points.
Pupils can understand grammatical concepts and structures through an explicit but succinct description of the grammatical feature to be taught	Our interactive games make grammar fun, encouraging pupils to practise, which is important for language production, and links to BBC Bitesize support with explanations of grammatical features (great for supporting the non-specialist at primary level). Grammar is introduce in context in our Primary Guided Course and each lesson includes detailed descriptions of the grammar covered for teachers to dip into.
Pupils can understand grammatical concepts and structures through practising the grammar point (through listening and reading)	All our verbs, grammatical concepts and structures within the ‘Grammar and Verbs’ section are supported with audios recorded by native speakers and are practised through the skills/modalities of listening and reading.
Pupils can understand grammatical concepts and structures through practice in productive use of the features being taught (through speaking and writing)	All our verbs, grammatical concepts and structures within the ‘Grammar and Verbs’ section are supported with audios recorded by native speakers. The teacher can play the audio for class repetition and pupils can develop their speaking by repeating the words both in class and when working through activities on the ‘Practice’ screen. Pupils can practise their writing in the ‘Dictation’ game where they have to write what they hear in the target language.
Teachers consider productive use of grammar in free writing and speech in a range of contexts. Using a language spontaneously is central to pupils’ language ability and based on their ability to manipulate language	Pupils can practise selected grammar skills in our ‘Grammar and Verbs’ area before moving to the ‘Open Writing’ and ‘Open Speaking’ questions where a teacher can set an appropriate question which gives them the opportunity to use their language spontaneously, in over 20 different contexts across 3 challenge levels.
The curriculum includes ample opportunity to revisit the same grammar in different contexts, for different tasks, with a range of vocabulary	Teachers can select the appropriate grammar they wish to drill in our ‘Grammar and Verbs’ area. They can then move on to their chosen context using these activities as a model for pupils to refer back to if needed.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features in making planned and purposeful progression in the curriculum: from novice to expert:	How may Languagenut help:
Teachers ensure that learners fully grasp the basics of language knowledge before expecting elements of expertise to come together reliably	All our activities and games guide the teacher and hence the learner step by step through the basics of any language they are learning. The ‘Learn-Practice-Quiz’ functionality allows pupils to do lots of recycling and revisiting of language within each topic thus supporting pupils to be more ‘expert’ within the specific area of knowledge.
Teachers support pupils’ development of reading, listening, writing and speaking abilities over time	All our games and activities cover all 4 skills/modalities with an extensive vocabulary bank of words and phrases. 8,000 exam-style questions support development of listening, reading, writing and speaking abilities. The teacher can set assignments for pupils to complete at any time on any device and pupils can revisit any vocabulary as often and whenever they want to help them remember more over time. Detailed lesson plans in our Primary Guided Course include activities designed to build confidence in all skills from single words to short phrases and longer sentences.
Teachers develop competencies ‘above’ that of a sentence or simple paragraph/utterance or simple conversation when learners are becoming more expert. These competencies may include discourse awareness (such as text analysis and inference) and sociolinguistic nuance	Our ‘Exam Skills’ ‘Who said what’ listening activity helps pupils to develop their skills in analysis and inferencing whilst also providing them with 3 different challenge levels. Our ‘Speaking Open Question’ activity gives pupils one minute to prepare an answer before they start recording which encourages them to go beyond a simple utterance or sentence.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features with regard to pedagogy:	How may Languagenut help:
Learning is largely intentional and not left to chance	Exposure to language learning is limited for the vast majority of pupils in their weekly timetable, however, pupils can access engaging activities on the Languagenut platform at any time, on any device thus increasing the chances of pupils investing effort into their language learning and gaining explicit knowledge.
Teachers’ use of the target language is carefully planned, is tailored to pupils’ language ability levels and builds systematically on pupils’ prior knowledge	Target language phrases are built into many of our activities and games either as a separate body of vocabulary or through choosing to have the questions in the target language in our listening and reading activities.
Teachers create opportunities for pupils to practise using the target language, including helping them to apply their knowledge in an unscripted way, which may be slower and more error-prone than planned speech	Teachers can use existing content or upload their own content for pupils to access in the ‘Open Speaking’ sections. Pupils get a minute to prepare their answer before recording it for up to 5 minutes which allows for the fact that some pupils may be slower than others when using language in an unscripted way.
Any authentic texts are well chosen for their linguistic content and level, and teachers plan their use carefully: they do not expose pupils to large amounts of unfamiliar language	Our fully resourced and research-led primary scheme, designed by teachers and language experts, contains texts which have been specifically chosen for their linguistic content and level. Authentic texts used in our secondary ‘Exam Skills’, contain vocabulary from all the exam board specifications and cover 3 challenge levels so that the teacher can select the most appropriate for their individual pupils.
Error correction is explicit where the focus is on accuracy: pupils are prompted that there has been an error and their own correction is elicited. It may well be focused on a particular aspect of the curriculum at a given time	All activities are marked automatically in our primary area. During each game in the ‘Practice’ stage on ‘Vocab Trainer’ and ‘Grammar and Verbs’, pupils get two attempts to answer the question, and then at the end they are given a further chance to revisit the ones they got wrong. At the end of the activity they will receive a review card on screen which shows the ones they got wrong and the correct answer thus giving them the opportunity to work on their corrections.
Pupils who are more proficient or have a higher capacity to notice or analyse language or have higher motivation may be able to pick up language more incidentally. For example, this may be through recasting errors, teachers’ use of target language or engaging in authentic materials	Pupils can access Languagenut on any device and at any time. Activities are automatically marked in our primary product and in all activities on our ‘Vocab Trainer’ which allows pupils to have instant feedback and get an insight into how they can improve which really does support the more proficient or those who have higher motivation levels. The ‘Exam skills’ area, in our secondary product, covers all 4 skills/modalities and the questions are automatically marked in the listening and reading activities. At the end, pupils are presented with a review screen that enables pupils to revisit the activity and see where their errors are.
High quality language learning MAY have the following features with regard to assessment:	How may Languagenut help:
Meaningful assessment is part of the curriculum in primary languages classrooms	Assessment is meaningful for pupils as it is a natural progression in the learning process as pupils move through the ‘Learn-Practice-Quiz’ functionality in all areas of the platform. Pupils and teachers can see immediately how they are progressing and what they need to work on, gaps in learning can be quickly addressed. Assessment is meaningful for teachers as they can assign tests for pupils to complete when they are ready, all activities are instantly marked allowing for appropriate feedback to pupils and teachers and scores are automatically recorded and kept in a central area easily accessible for the teacher, for meetings with parents and for members of the Senior Leadership team.
Assessment in secondary classroom is not unduly influenced by GCSE or A-level summative assessment	Our texts in the ‘Exam Skills’ section draw from a wide range of vocabulary and structures including those specified in the different GCSE specifications. Our question types are varied and include games such as ‘Wordpod’, ‘Snap’ and ‘Dictation’ which are not included in any GCSE summative assessment. In listening activities pupils have the option to view the transcript and slow down the audio with the snail button as well as being able to listen to it as many times as they want.
Assessments are carefully designed so that they are valid (for example, pupils cannot guess the meaning of vocabulary by a process of elimination)	In our primary section, pupils are assessed across all 4 skills/modalities on words and phrases that they have met in the earlier stages of the learning cycle for the topic or theme they are studying. Pupils are not faced with words they have not yet met or used. The types of questions pupils will meet in our ‘Exam Skills ‘and ‘Revision’ areas are aligned to the various exam board specifications and will give pupils a similar experience to what they will be faced with in a real exam scenario.
Assessment is aligned to a clearly structured and sequenced curriculum	Assessments and topics on both our primary and secondary products are flexible enough to be used alongside any scheme of learning that you have adopted in your school. Assessments can be taken or assigned at any time and repeated.
For more expert learners, assessment checks learners’ understanding of language and ability to produce long stretches of language and more complex language, in less scaffolded environments	In the primary section, pupils can use the ‘Fridge magnets’ games to work out the sentence and the add a little to make the sentence longer. Assessments at secondary level have 3 levels of challenge across all 4 skills/modalities. For more proficient learners the teacher can set the most difficult challenge level and/or change the questions to the appropriate target language. In the ‘Open Writing’ and ‘Open speaking’ activities pupils can produce a longer answer (up to 5 minutes in speaking).
High quality language learning MAY have the following features with regard to schools’ culture and policies:	How may Languagenut help:
Language teachers have both a strong understanding of curriculum progression in languages and strong subject knowledge	Detailed lesson plans are provided for all topics in the Primary Guided course. Lesson plans include starter activities to support retrieval, ideas for presentation of new language, activities for practising all 4 skills/modalities and differentiation ideas and materials for extending and supporting your pupils. Languagenut secondary offers a wealth of resources which cover the demands of any curriculum or methodology. Free webinars address a wide range of areas to support teachers with all aspects of language regardless of the expertise of your staff.
Transition processes are well-considered and the curriculum builds step by step across key stages	The primary scheme of work covers a wide range of topics and grammar suitable for any primary setting and it lays the foundations for further language teaching at KS3. KS3 resources fully cover the National Curriculum and ‘Exam Skills’ gives pupils practice with GCSE style questions.