Modern Foreign Languages at Barr View Primary

Latin

At Barr View we have reviewed our foreign language curriculum and have chosen to teach Latin due to the rich language opportunities that come with learning this classic language and for developing children’s understanding of its influence on today’s culture.

Intent:

To teach children a rich, balanced and progressive curriculum, using Latin to provide pupils with a range of linguistic experiences. These will develop children’s passion for language, whilst also deepening their knowledge of spelling and vocabulary when learning the Latin roots of English words. As English has its roots in Latin, studying the language helps children become more confident in their understanding of English grammar. It also allows further scaffolding of language learning for pupils with English as an additional language.

Through our teaching or Latin, we aim to provide a foundation for future language learning.

Alongside developing children’s understanding and use of language, studying Latin provides children with wider learning opportunities as they develop their understanding of the past through studying Greek and Roman culture and its impact on our world’s culture today.

Implementation:

We aim for all pupils of all abilities and backgrounds to have the opportunity to learn a foreign language in line with the National Curriculum Language requirements. We therefore use the Maximum Classics Latin course and associated resources to deliver our Latin curriculum to KS2 pupils which provides a progressive coverage of the subject and its associated skills.

At Barr View Primary, we teach Latin weekly in years 3 to 6. The lessons provide a balance of spoken and written language, enabling children to understand and communicate in speech and writing. The cultural learning sessions work alongside the language teaching to engage and excite children in their language learning.

By the end of the progressive program of learning, children will have had the opportunity to meet the Language National Curriculum requirements as follows:

• Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.
• Explore patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.
• Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing.
• Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary.
• Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly.
• Describe people, places, things and actions in writing.
• 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.

Impact:

Our Latin curriculum is progressive and builds children’s cultural capital as it allows children to develop their understanding of languages, both Latin and English, different cultures and ways of thinking as well as providing a foundation for future language learning.

We measure the impact of the Latin curriculum through: reflecting on standards achieved against the planned outcomes, tracking of knowledge through pupils’ work and discussions about their learning.