St Vincent's Catholic Primary School

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
Psalm 133.1

Modern Foreign Language

Modern Foreign Language Curriculum Intent

Although not statutory until Year 3, Italian is introduced in Reception (EYFS) and taught by a native Italian speaking teacher. Children have the opportunity to have weekly Italian lessons organised by the Education department of the Italian Consulate. St Vincent’s also have Native Italian speakers on our staff to support the children’s development of the Italian language. Continuing with Italian throughout the Primary school years enables children to achieve a good level of fluency, confidence and skill in a foreign language.

Across all year groups, our Italian lessons last for an hour providing opportunities for active, learning and pupil participation through games and activities involving speaking, listening and having fun. In Key Stage 2, the children have more opportunities to build and gain confidence in their written work (MFL).

For more information, please download our Modern Foreign Language – Italian Syllabus Overview on the right.

Languages National Curriculum Objectives

Click link above to download a copy of the Department of Education's Languages national curriculum objectives.

Curriculum Intent

At St Vincent’s it is our INTENT is to enable ALL children to thrive through the opportunities we provide them with, in order to:

Curriculum Context

St Vincent’s is a 1.5 form entry school with 285 children ranging from 4 -11. Children come predominantly from the parishes of Sacred Heart in Mill Hill and St Anthony’s in Edgware.

Children come from a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds, speak 17 different languages and hail from 26 different ethnic groups. The curriculum we present, and promote, to the children is an endeavour to reflect these differences by providing opportunities to explore the different countries, languages and customs our children are part of through the projects they investigate. We have looked closely at the context of our school, the backgrounds of the children and how life is for a child growing up in North London today. We have used the underlying principles of our Catholic Faith and the example of our namesake St Vincent to create a set of values which lie at the heart of our curriculum.

We are aware of the changing nature of society and the pressures faced by young children as they enter the next stage of their education. The rise in Mental Health related issues has been widely documented across the media. Therefore, issues such as internet safety and the enormous impact across society of social media are at the forefront of our minds when planning our curriculum. With the current worldwide concerns relating to Covid 19, racial justice, equality and diversity, as well as gender and economic background, we feel it is our duty to prepare the children through a concerted focus on building independence, resilience and communication skills linked to our Vincentian Values.