Intent

Our intent is to ensure that all of our pupils have the opportunity of experiencing a new culture and language without the need to travel abroad in order to promote understanding and respect for others, as well as themselves.

Italian holds a significant place amongst the world’s most widely spoken languages. Between 63.4 million and 85 million people speak Italian as their first language. Therefore, we believe that learning it in KS2 gives children an advantage for the future.

Implementation

All children in Key Stage 2 are taught a half-an-hour lesson each week using a combination of games, songs and fun activities aimed at developing vocabulary for written and spoken Italian. In addition to making the lessons fun and engaging, the focus on grammar supports pupils with English as well as Italian.

Resources

In Italian, we use different resources from various providers and resources provided by our subject coordinator (Mrs Holden). At St Edmund's, we also use Language Angels to supplement the language lessons. There are also opportunities for pupils to carry on with their learning of Italian at home through the use of the resources shared.

Once every two years, we have an Italian Day that provides an opportunity for pupils to immerse themselves in their learning through a range of activities from cooking to maths lessons in Italian.

Language Ambassadors extend the use of daily phrases to practise by sharing weekly phrases and vocabulary lists with KS2 classes.

Impact

All children are challenged and inspired through our curriculum and prepares pupils to participate in a changing world in which work and other activities are often carried out in languages other than English.

Competency in a foreign language unlocks a person’s problem‐solving, resilience and communication skills.  We hope that our pupils will also have a greater understanding of other cultures and consider themselves to be world citizens.