Mandarin
Intent – why do we teach what we teach?
The National Curriculum expectation for MFL is that all pupils learn one language from Year 3. Here at Harris Academy Chobham, pupils are given a head-start, with weekly Mandarin lessons beginning in year 1. The benefits of learning a language are manifold and very well-documents. Here at Chobham, we believe it is a moral duty, to afford students the opportunity to learn another language and of its associated culture. Students’ Mandarin lessons not only equip them with the knowledge and understanding to communicate in Mandarin, but also increase their intercultural understanding by seeing things from another’s perspective, giving them insight into the people and traditions of other cultures. We believe that this is essential when developing global citizens.
Harris Academy Chobham is a part of the Swire Chinese Language Centre London, who provide specialist support and a tailor-made curriculum designed to meet all NC expectations.
Our scheme of work is based on a spiral curriculum model with pupils frequently revisiting and building on prior knowledge. For example, in Y3. pupils will study ‘Zodiac Animals’ in the Spring term and will revisit those words again in the ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear’ unit in the summer term. In the ‘Brown bear unit’ they will also begin to describe some animals using a range of colours and the ‘de’ grammar structure. This spiral curriculum design lends itself perfectly to progression into KS3 as students continue to revisit and to expand their vocabulary as well as being able to apply words and sentences correctly in new contexts.
Implementation – how do we teach what we teach?
All children from Year 1-Year 6 receive 40m-1hr of lessons each week, Reception children will receive 20 mins of lesson each week. The Mandarin long-term plan is designed to build on their prior knowledge by frequently revisiting key vocabulary and language structures so that they can use them correctly in different contexts.
Learning in Reception focuses on ‘receptive’ language learning based on songs, stories and rhymes. The content covered in Reception pre-empts many of the topics that will be revisited later in the curriculum e.g. numbers, colours, family members. Learning in Y1 & Y2 continues with a focus on speaking and listening skills, with pupils beginning to be exposed to pinyin but without explicit systematic teaching of the pinyin phonetic system. Pupils will be made aware of characters and their central importance to Chinese language and culture from Year 1. In Y3 & Y4, pupils will build on learning from Y1 & Y2 with an increased emphasis on reading and pronunciation using the pinyin phonetic system.
Once students get to Y4, the focus then shifts to preparing pupils for the option of further language study in secondary and in being able to read and write a greater number of Chinese characters. These are introduced systematically throughout the curriculum, beginning with simple strokes and ‘pictograms’ and moving on to radicals, components and more complex characters. Whilst pupils will be able to speak and write sentences in pinyin from Y3, throughout Y5 and Y6, they will begin to substitute a greater number of characters.
Mandarin is planned so that all students are able to access the content. For our SEND learners, they will be provided with visual supports and modified work sheets to ensure that they can make better progress.
Impact – how do we know what pupils have learnt and how well they have learnt it?
At the end of each half term, all pupils from Y1-6 sit an end of unit low-stakes quiz which covers all of the key substantive knowledge that students need to know. The data is then used by our specialist Mandarin teacher to help differentiate worksheets and tasks so that students can continue to make good progress. In EYFS, there are no end of unit assessments. Instead, there are plenty of opportunities for AFL in class – target questions, mini-plenaries and review at the end of each lesson.
