Mandarin

 

“To have another language, is to possess a second soul.”

Charlemagne

Why we teach your child Mandarin:

Mandarin is the most widely spoken first language in the world. Learning it at Key Stage 2, will open a wide range of opportunities for our pupils as they enter KS3 and beyond. We believe that learning Mandarin will give our pupils a significant advantage when competing for jobs in the future. We also believe that learning Mandarin will connect our pupils with Chinese culture, thus approaching global citizenship with an open mind.

What our curriculum looks like:

From Year 3 to Year 6, we deliver the aims of the National Curriculum through a weekly Mandarin lesson delivered by our specialist Mandarin teachers. Lessons provide opportunity for pupils to practice and develop, in a balanced approach, their spoken and written language. Children understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings, orally and in writing. Our aim is to provide a strong foundation for reading comprehension and an appreciation of Chinese culture.

Our curriculum is sequenced so our pupils’ schemata can grow, through the connection of new knowledge with previous knowledge. We define progress by our pupils knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more.

The Mandarin curriculum is carefully mapped out, considering some of the following:

• Are we enabling children to understand and respond to spoken and written language from a range of authentic sources?
• How is the learning of new vocabulary developed? Do lessons facilitate the exploration of the interplay between Mandarin and English vocabulary?
• Is the curriculum planned in accessible step-by-step manner so children can build on previous learning?
• Are we enabling children to remember what is most important?
• Does our curriculum support effective transition in languages from primary to secondary school?

Our Mandarin curriculum long-term plan can be found below:

How we teach Mandarin:

As with every subject, we recognise what makes learning a language unique, and as a result make pedagogical choices to ensure teaching is the best it can possibly be.

To assess the key learning at the end of the lesson, teachers will ask three questions, which align carefully with the learning. Furthermore, summative assessments at the end of each unit provide opportunity to test comprehension and recall key grammar, vocabulary and skills from the unit in question.

We have captured our pedagogical choice for teaching a foreign in our Mandarin principles which can be seen below:

How you can help your child at home:

• Ask your child about their Mandarin learning. Can they share the exciting vocabulary they have learnt with you?
• Can your child teach you some of the words and phrases they have learnt?

Learn Mandarin with them! Linguascope and other websites can help you learn alongside your child.