ACE European Day of Languages (EDOL) Focus Day in the ACE Spotlight!
Friday 24th September 2021
The theme for ACE European Day Of Languages is 'A Journey Song'.
Miss Holness is Astley's new Year 3 teacher and Curriculum Lead for Music and Primary Languages.
We met Miss Holness in our Ace Focus pages in Autumn 2020 for our ACE Music Focus Day 2020 and learnt about her interest in music and its strong links to well-being within the ACE Curriculum.
We invited Miss Holness to tell us all about her role as Primary Languages Curriculum Lead and what ACE EDOL Focus Day 2021 has in store for Astley pupils.
How long have you been Curriculum Lead for Foreign Languages and what languages did you study or enjoy most at school?
I've been Primary Languages Curriculum Lead for eight years. I enjoyed French at school and also studied German.
Why is it important for Astley pupils to learn foreign languages at primary school?
Being able to communicate in another language, even with just the basics, is very useful when visiting other countries. Learning other languages also helps open up the world to other cultures and ways of living.
What can parents and carers expect Astley pupils to learn in Primary Languages lessons in both KS1 and KS2?
KS1 pupils will have lots of fun singing songs, playing games, using puppets to practise new words and introducing elements of reading and writing.
KS2 will continue to use singing, games and practising new words but will gain more in depth knowledge of grammar, phonics, reading and writing for different real life purposes.
Our ACE Focus articles aim to help parents and carers understand how curriculum subjects are linked. In what ways does learning a foreign languages help pupils with other curriculum subjects?
Lessons in foreign languages help pupils engage across the curriculum. Children are practising reading and writing, memorizing songs and using their social skills while playing games. Using drama and puppets helps to build on speaking and listening skills as well as confidence. Pupils learn to be empathetic to others by seeing how people live in different cultures and learn about the origins of words and how this relates to English.
Music and singing and being active helps us all remember information as well as helping our mental and physical well being. Language lessons also give pupils the opportunity to incorporate creative art and crafts activities. So many ACE Curriculum links!
Do all Astley staff have foreign language skills in order to deliver language lessons and what resources do teachers use at Astley?
We now have an exciting new online learning platform called 'Primary Languages Network,' which provides ongoing training and support for staff.
How might parents support pupils learning in foreign languages and what resources might be available at home?
It can be helpful to ask children to sing songs they have been learning in lessons at school and practise using their new phrases in context. BBC bitesize also has some great French learning resources and games.
All pupils typically begin studying at least one foreign language when progressing to Year 7 at High School. What links would you like to see forged with the high schools to support Astley pupil's learning? (in term of shared skills / resources etc?)
The Modern Foreign Language teachers at Reepham High School support that quality weekly lessons provide children with a good grounding for studying languages at high school. They emphasised the importance of good pronunciation, which is taught explicitly through phonics in our new program of study.
What activities can pupils at Astley look forward to on ACE EDOL Focus Day?
The theme for ACE EDOL Focus Day this year is 'A Journey Song.' Pupils will be learning a sea shanty in French, learning ways to greet each other in different languages and using maps to think about what it's like to travel to other places in the world.
Astley will welcome parents in to school 8.30-9am during Open Morning to take part in a shared activity. Pupils will sing call and response songs they've learned together in class when they met later for their Celebration Assembly.
What are your aims for ACE EDOL Focus Day and how would you like pupils to remember their experience?
My aims would be for pupils to develop life skills such as empathy and respect for others; appreciate diversity, shared similarities and differences, for example, KS2 pupils may consider the question, 'What is a Refugee?'. They should enjoy exploring places around the world and learn where languages are spoken; to read, write and greet in different languages, including specific directional language from the songs they learn, e.g.'How are you?', 'What is your name?', 'How old are you?.'
Using our Sea Shanty songs is a fantastic way to make information stick in pupil's long term memories. We have seen how music helps us do this in our ACE Music Focus Day. Sea Shanties have recently become popular again, so I hope Astley pupils will really enjoy learning languages through this theme and that they go on to study languages further and enjoy some exciting journeys of their own!
Each Focus Day we will have a new pair of Year 6 ACE Roving Reporters who will interview pupils on their experience and capture the mood of the day.
Here is the report for EDOL day!
Here's what Astley's first ACE Roving Reporters told us about what they saw on ACE EDOL Focus Day 2021:-
'As ACE Roving Reporters we went around all the classes and we saw pupils making flags. You could choose which country to make flags for. All the classes were speaking and singing in French. The children in the classrooms were enjoying taking part in different activities. It was good to have a different kind of day. During our day we did DT, Art and P.E. Some classes were listening to the beginning of the Paddington film in French! The Key Stage 1 children packed a suitcase, sang sea shanties and we looked at Pirates of the Caribbean.'
Thank you Reilly Hunt and Rowen Southgate.
