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In this column I will discuss how children will progress in their learning skills and knowledge in the subject of Modern Foreign Languages from FS to KS3 through one of the National Curriculum aims of that subject. The central aim that I will discuss from the National Curriculum is to ‘understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources.’ (Department of Education, 2013)

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The teaching of Modern Foreign languages at primary level is formally introduced in KS2, this is because most early years and KS1 stages will not aim for bilingualism as it is non – statutory and most teachers main focus is to embed key principles of the English language. Instead, there may be an introduction of a few phrases or words in another language so it is building on vocabulary that is understood and can be taught at the children’s pace. During my period of teaching practice, I had a discussion with the MFL lead, in which she made me aware of a MFL lunchtime club that herself and the school offer for children in KS1 to be introduced to either Spanish or French. In the allocated time the teacher would teach the children a short input such as days of the week or counting to 10, and then they would be given simple worksheets or colouring to complete with music or nursery rhymes in the language of the lesson being taught. Such activities and inputs can be applied to Early Years classrooms as well, as Field (2000) states ‘the sooner the learning begins the better the quality of that learning, not only in relation to the motivational and attitudinal gains claimed for MFL teaching in primary schools’, meaning that children will gain higher attainment levels if MFL teaching is introduced into their educational journey at an earlier stage. Providing children with the opportunity to start building their foundation blocks of foreign language learning is highly important for them to carry forward into their learning in the other key stages. Geofrey (2021) explains that ‘prior knowledge lays a base or foundation for learning new ideas.’ Children conceptualise content, make sense of new ideas and experiences that are easy to understand during the teaching and learning process, based on prior knowledge of the subject under discussion, and strengthen their foundations for learning. Exposing children to short sequences of MFL learning at an earlier stage will provide them with the opportunity to build on prior knowledge in their MFL lessons as they progress into KS2 and KS3.

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For looking at progression in modern foreign languages, I will be discussing the Rachael Hawkes scheme of work that has been largely implemented across schools in the southwest trust. It is a scheme that we were introduced to on the course, and I was fortunate enough to observe lesson of it being taught, as well as lead and teach lessons myself on my placement practice. The subject is primarily introduced and focused on at KS2 level and looking at Hawkes’s scheme in year 3 for children to build on their language comprehension, the expectation for phonics to ‘to learn SSC and phonics key words and remember them, match the French SSC I hear to print and transcribe accurately. As well as listening to and joining in with simple songs and rhymes’ this is providing children with the foundation of new language learning. All the PowerPoints provided by the scheme include an instructor sounding out and saying the words aloud for the children to repeat but also as a guide for teachers who may lack slight confidence in teaching the subject. Driscoll and Frost (2005) state that ‘creating an interest and motivation through allowing the children to see and hear the language from seeing and hearing the target language used by native speakers in a genuine or very realistic situations’, meaning that exposing children to continuous practice of new vocabulary spoken correctly by provided resources will begin to form the building block for children’s language comprehension. In year 6 children progress to ‘listening and writing short phrases including unfamiliar words more accurately, when focusing on transcription’. When observing and teaching year 6 French lessons on placement, the scheme at the beginning of every lesson included slides on phonics development which progresses to harder sounds through the year groups with revisits at the end of each year for the last unit for children to practice, recall their knowledge and apply it to the following year groups learning. Bates (2019, pp. 272 – 273) explains that the curriculum starts with ideas in their simplest form and then are revisited and built upon to add complexity allowing learners to link it with their previous knowledge around the subject, in which this scheme is providing the children with the opportunity to do. The scheme also always included a worksheet at the end of each lesson that the MFL lead, or I would include within the lesson as the children highly benefit from practice, revisiting and repeating vocabulary to continuously embed that knowledge. As an example, I had a discussion with the MFL lead at my placement school prior to leading my own French lesson and she made aware of the vocabulary that she has been continuously implementing in the children’s learning since the beginning of the year and how they have been doing that across all year groups. The children were provided with a vocabulary sheet, created by the scheme, at the beginning of each unit as a reference point for them during lessons.

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A study conducted by Courtney (2014) showed a significant gap between high and low attainers at secondary school – pointing to a need for systematic teaching of phonics and spelling at both phases alongside greater differentiation. This can show how important it is for teachers at primary level to ensure that they are continuously embedding new language learning and following structures of schemes such as the Rachael Hawkes scheme of work that supports to achieve these successes for pupils. Bolster et al. (2004) expresses that ‘the challenge of ensuring a smooth transition, centres on decisions across a wide range of dimensions, all of which have a fundamental effect upon pupil progress, attainment and motivation’. For children to be able to progress positively through modern foreign language learning there needs to be a concrete foundation block of knowledge that has already been built at primary level. This is the duty of the teacher to ensure that children are being exposed to the phonics, vocabulary, and grammar of the chosen language at the school, so pupils have a smooth transition to secondary level and to also entice and excite them to want to carry forward their language learning to GCSE and A Level when given the choice.

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With mathematics being a core subject in primary education it is pivotal for children to receive the best quality education on the subject as it ‘significantly influences pupils and students’ education both in special branch (mathematical knowledge) and in branch of moral education’ (Hodaňová and Nocar, 2016). For looking at progression in mathematics, I will discuss the Power Maths: White Rose Maths scheme of work that I was introduced to on my placement, I will specifically look at multiplication and division from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 3.

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There is a strong emphasis on reasoning and problem solving throughout the mathematics section of the national curriculum. ‘Reasoning is fundamental’ explain Hollier, Howell and McNeil (2020, pp. 126 – 132) in the subject of mathematics as it encourages children to think systematically and make rich connections between concepts. Skemp (2009, pp. 152 – 163) believes that when children achieve a true understanding of mathematics, they have a relational understanding. Meaning that they've been exploring many different concepts and creating a larger picture. The three modes of representation by Bruner (2006) shows how children can benefit from being exposed to different mathematical concepts in different contexts, guided by their classroom teacher. The enactive mode (concrete representation) is at the forefront of Bruner’s theory, and it is what the children should firstly be taught. Followed by the iconic mode meaning image and visual representation and finally the symbolic mode, whereby children can create mental links through previous learning. According to Donaldson (2015) this combination of contexts is essential for encouraging children's true understanding and he warns that it must not be used in a single format: they should have interlinks and overlaps across the whole subject. Additionally, Hollier, Howell, and McNeil (2020, p. 132) caution educators against making the mistake of believing that resources are best utilised with younger year groups and that, as long as the teacher uses them effectively, they are beneficial for all age groups.

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The EYFS framework (DFE, 2021) highlight the importance and highly recommend the use of resources to aid children in spotting patterns and make connections between numbers and concrete resources. Whilst on placement I observed EYFS use plenty of resources during their maths inputs and the teachers for that stage spent hours after school organising and preparing these for the children. The NCETM (2018) address the 6 areas of early mathematics learning which include cardinality and counting, comparison, composition, pattern, shape and space and measures. The first four areas addressed above will all contribute towards children’s multiplication and division learning in future key stages and will be the foundation blocks for a child’s development of mathematical thinking.

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In KS1 I have also observed concrete resources and manipulatives used constantly. The Power Maths scheme that I taught on placement follows a specific structure and within it there is a discover section for children in either pairs or groups to explore a new concept or idea collaboratively with the help of concrete resources and manipulatives. I found this to be a highly beneficial for the children as it is providing them with the independence to create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate their mathematical ideas, as they begin to develop a more positive math disposition and take ownership of their own learning, which is showing active participation from the learner supporting Piaget’s theory on constructivism (Bates, 2019). The children on my placement were also introduced to ‘TT Rockstars’ which is a programme for children to practice their times-table and division number sentences. I was in a Year 2 classroom and the expectation from the NC at this level is for the children to ‘recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 multiplication tables, including recognising odd and even numbers’, the ‘TT Rockstars’ programme used at the school would hugely aid the children in achieving this expectation as it is a valuable resource that I have seen being used in other schools on placements as well.

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Progressing into KS2 the division and multiplication aspect of the maths curriculum becomes increasingly more complicated for the children. It starts with continuing to increase their knowledge at lower key state 2 phase with the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables to multiplying and diving up to 4 digits numbers by the end of year 6 (DFE, 2021). The children to be able to keep up with the high demand of increased mathematical knowledge would highly benefit from the use of manipulatives and concrete resources, but they become slowly phased out I have observed on my practice placement at KS2 level. Hollier, Howell and McNeil (2020) believe that resources should not only just be used in the younger year groups. The three modes of representation are also encouraged in KS3 from the NC, leading me to believe that concrete materials should be carried forward into children’s learning at KS2 and KS3 as they strengthen pupils learning and fill in gaps of their knowledge where they struggle to fully comprehend methods and concepts.

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In this column I will be exploring a focused review into the foundation subject of geography. I will delve into Ofsted’s (2021) approach they use when carrying out an inspection which is referred to as the 3 I’s: intention, implementation, and impact. According to Freeland (2021) they should be the key aspect of any school’s curriculum and the intent refers to what you want your pupils to learn. The implementation aspect are the teaching activities a teacher decides to use to teach a coherent curriculum. Lastly the impact aspect is what pupil have learnt from the curriculum. I will be applying these 3 I’s to the core curriculum subject of geography and show how pupils interest in the subject can flourish, as well as curriculum coherence and ambition and how it will be prepare students for the next stage of their education.

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Dinnie (2021)

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Scoffham and Owen’s (2017, p. 4) has identified three main concepts that teachers must understand and teach which are place, space and scale. Which also correlates to Ofsted (2021) that since its introduction in 1991 has maintained a focus on four forms of geographical knowledge of location, place, knowledge of environmental, physical, and human geography processes and geographical skills. It is believed that these main concepts are to be taught coherently and not individually so children can continuously develop their geographical skills. Rigg (2020, p. 82) explains that the subject of geography can provide students with an understanding of their environment around them and by doing this it ‘should enable children to live in the real world’. Freeland (2021) suggests that it is a teacher's responsibility to provide the right learning environment to enable children to understand their place and the world around them. This idea of enhancing children’s geographical knowledge and understanding of their location will enable them in finding their own identity. Ofsted (2021) highlight how the teaching of a sound curriculum is best done when teacher’s consider lessons plans carefully and sequence lessons specifically for them to intertwine concepts. They also suggest that the subject of geography requires a sufficient number of teaching hours to ensure that all content is covered in depth.

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According to Hoult (2015, p. 118), it is imperative that kids take an active role in environmental studies. In support of this, Rigg (2020, p.82) suggests that teachers should encourage students to observe and document the changes in their environment, with an emphasis on inquiry skills at the core of geographical learning. Rigg’s suggestion is evident to be a hands – on approach and Bland (2014) supports this by expressing that children may be fully engaged in the subject through the use of current events. It is also claimed that lesson sequences can function effectively if they are structured around geographical issues that call for the students to conduct research in order to get the answers. He further explains that the the development of this inquiry skill is demonstrated by the encouragement of pupils to formulate their own queries, identify their areas of interest, and use those to spark further research which Ofsted (2021) believe that this kind of learning can lead to further Geographical curiosity. Freeland (2021) believes that there has been a decline in KS2 fieldwork, and a risk of a lack of accuracy that in turn geographically skills are not being taught effectively, which poses a risk to pupils being less equipped to positively progress to KS3. Implementing Bland’s concepts into teaching can ensure that children to receive the best possible geographical education they can to help prepare them for secondary education.

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Combining knowledge and abilities from two or more NC topics into a single learning experience is known as cross-curricular learning. Harris (2013) expresses that there ‘has been a greater attention recently on the development of cross – curricular courses’, which will provide children with the opportunity to develop a greater depth of understanding and knowledge. Hayes (2010) further suggests how cross- curricular learning can be described as ‘interdisciplinary and helps prevent barriers within a child's knowledge’, the connection of two or more subjects will allow pupils to gain a deeper understanding and they are more likely to achieve effective progression within those subjects. On my placement practice throughout the classroom there are working walls for all subjects. On every working wall the key vocabulary is included, as well as all objectives for each lesson and what samples of what the children have covered and will cover in all lessons in the unit or sequence currently being taught. These working walls aid the children in being able to retrieve information from them and apply them to future lessons, as well as other subjects where appropriate. As an example, there were crossovers and similarities in what the children were learning within their history lessons, which was the Great Fire of London, where they learnt about what different equipment people used years ago to extinguish the fire because they didn’t have the same modern-day equipment we have now. They then in their Design and Technology made leavers for a piece of equipment to extinguish fire. This crossover further aids the children in recalling and revisiting new vocabulary, as well as developing important skills such as the ability to apply knowledge to other contexts. This has further allowed the children on my placement to apply their previous knowledge and I have provided prompts where necessary to allow the children to recall and apply the information themselves.

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However, an opposing argument on the usefulness of a cross curricular approach is presented by Greenwood (2013). According to him, subjects are beginning to lose their distinctiveness, and their links with each other are beginning to be meaningless. This is also supported by Kidd (2020), who believes that a cross curricular approach to education will reduce the learning of children rather than increase it. Which raises the question, if it's not even carried out, how useful cross curricular education really is?

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To ensure cross – curricular planning in schools is delivered effectively an implementation of methodology can be introduced. Cornerstones (2022) has created a curriculum that has significant connections to every topic and adheres to a strong knowledge and skill foundation that builds upon the goals and objectives of NC. Schools using schemes that have already been adapted for cross curricular planning can be highly beneficial in areas for children to links knowledge and skills together which will put them at a level of greater depth learning. Kidd (2020) further implies that ‘done well, cross curricular learning offers great potential for children to connect learning within and across domains and can strengthen schemas to make powerful and meaningful learning’, meaning that when done appropriately cross – curricular learning can have it’s benefits for pupils learning and knowledge.

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Bates, B. (2019) Learning Theories simplified 2nd Edition London: SAGE

Bland, K. (2014) Subject teaching in primary education. 1st edition. Edited by P. Smith and L. Dawes. London: SAGE

Bruner, J.S. (2006) In search of pedagogy volume 11. Oxon: Routledge

Cornerstones Education. (2022). Cornerstones Curriculum. [online] Available at: https://cornerstoneseducation.co.uk/curriculum/cornerstones-curriculum/.

Courtney, L. (2014). Primary to Secondary transition in MFL: a discussion of the strategies used to maintain progression and motivation for language learning and the outcomes Background -issues of transition. [online] Available at: https://www.all-languages.org.uk/uploads/files/Language%20World%202014/Speaker%20materials/L%20Courtney.pdf

Department for Education (2023). Early years foundation stage statutory framework (EYFS). [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2.

Department of Education (2013). National curriculum in England: languages programmes of study. [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-languages-progammes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-languages-progammes-of-study.

Department of Education. GOV.UK. (2021). National curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study#year-2-programme-of-study.

Donaldson, G. (2015). The Primary Curriculum a creative approach. 2nd edition. Edited by P. Driscoll, A., Lambirth and J. Roden. London: SAGE

Driscoll, P. and Frost, D. (2005). Teaching Modern Languages in the Primary School. [online] Google Books. Routledge. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id= rLCEAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA126&dq=mfl+in+primary+schools&ots=Tmwlq-VFbC&sig=DLu4nTX8_d6eSjbq8WQxL3d6xec#v=onepage&q=mfl%20in%20primary%20schools&

Field, K. (2000). Issues in Modern Foreign Languages Teaching. [online] Google Books. Psychology Press. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-1qs1PZoSFEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA72&dq=benefits+of+teaching+mfl+at+a+younger+age&ots=EGzwcFZjkO&sig=KmkE3BVqZ5IaIqSHjX2AbVNoaw#v=onepage&q=benefits%20of%20teaching%20mfl%20at%20a%20younger%20age&f=false.

Freeland, I. (2021). Geography in outstanding primary schools - Ofsted blog: schools, early years, further education and skills. [online] Available at: https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2021/05/11/geography-in-outstanding-primary-schools/.

Geofrey, M. (2021). (PDF) Children’s prior knowledge is very important in Teaching and learning in this era of constructivism. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351451835_Children.

Greenwood, R. (2013) Subject based and cross – curricular approaches within the revised primary curriculum in Northern Ireland: teachers concerns and preferred approaches. pp. 443 – 458

Harris, R. Harrison, S., McFan, R. (2013). Cross curricular teaching and learning in secondary school. Humanities: History, Geography, Religious Studies and Citizenship. Available at:  https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/plymouth/detail.action?docID=957258&pq-origsite=primo

Hayes, D. (2010). The seductive charms of a cross-curricular approach. Education 3-13, [online] 38(4).  Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0300427090 3519238.

Hodaňová, J. and Nocar, D. (2016). MATHEMATICS IMPORTANCE IN OUR LIFE. Palacky University in Olomouc (CZECH REPUBLIC). Available at: https://library.iated.org/view/ HODANOVA2016MAM

Hollier, R., Howell, E., and McNeil, J. (2020) Teaching the primary curriculum. 1st edition. Edited by C. Foster and R. Eperjesi. London: SAGE

Hoult, S. (2015) The Primary Curriculum a creative approach. 2nd edition. Edited by P. Driscoll, A., Lambirth and J. Roden. London: SAGE

Kidd, D. (2020) A curriculum hope: as rich in humanity as in knowledge. Wales Independent Thinking Press

NCETM. (2018). Early Years. [online] Available at: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/in-the-classroom/early-years/.

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Ofsted (2019). Education Inspection Framework (EIF). [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework.

Rigg, J. (2020) Teaching the primary curriculum. 1st edition. Edited by C. Forster and R. Eperjesi London: SAGE

Scoffham, S. and Owens, P. (2017) Teaching Primary Geography. London: Bloomsbury

Skemp, R.R. (2009) The psychology of learning mathematics. Oxon: Routledge

Ttrockstars.com. (2018). Times Table Rockstars. [online] Available at: https://ttrockstars. com/.

www.pearson.com. (n.d.). Power Maths | Primary Curriculum. [online] Available at: https://www.pearson.com/international-schools/british-curriculum/primary-curriculum/power-maths.html.

Rachelhawkes.com - KS2 Languages. Language Progression KS2 French [online] Available at: https://www.rachelhawkes.com/Resources/KS2Lang.php.