"To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world." Chinese Proverb

In our school, we see learning a foreign language as a necessary part of celebrating and welcoming differences in our world. It is our intent to promote and develop a love of learning about other languages and cultures, so that our children will have a deepened ability to show respect and play a valuable part in our global society. 

At St. Peter & St. Paul, we introduce the learning of language in KS2 through French and aim to develop the understanding of its culture in enjoyable and stimulating ways. We want our children to have the essential skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing embedded, so that they are able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. 

We see language learning as a lifelong skill; therefore, we expose our children to many different languages throughout their time with us. From reception onwards, children will learn to answer the register in different languages and will take part in our ‘Language of the term’, where we celebrate a particular country and language by learning about where it is, the cultural differences and key vocabulary. We aim to build the children’s ‘cultural capital’ so that they are aware of similarities and differences between themselves and others. 

It is our intention, that by the time children leave our school, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that, in a multilingual society it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language.  They will be engaged and prepared to continue language learning at High School.