Embedding - Cross-curricular links

Children learn best when they can make sense of their learning. Embedding language learning into school life brings benefits on many levels. It helps children to realise that there are many languages in the world (and in their school) and that speaking another language is normal, natural and valuable.

Experiencing language every day helps children to memorise new words and structures, giving children the confidence to respond to what they hear and to use the new language for real purposes. Integrating language learning into the school day makes best use of the time available and provides coherent links between different subjects of the curriculum.

Language detectives

Here children enjoy becoming ‘language detectives’, working on a text in French about a child who is evacuated during World War 2. They have not seen the text before. A Higher Level Teaching Assistant, as subject specialist for languages, introduces the topic of evacuation during World War 2. Children then become Language Detectives, looking for clues and piecing together the meaning of the text, using their previous knowledge and learning strategies.