Evaluation of the Key Stage 2 Language Learning Pathfinders

still be curriculum based; we have had to work at it but it’s manageable. Last year thenativity play was in French, a simple version, but the children loved it.’ (headteacher)Some staff were initially sceptical about the time needed to teach languages and otherswere concerned about its impact on the rest of the curriculum time especially for SATs. OneYear 2 teacher, who also taught French in Year 6 pointed out:‘We’re actually always going to restrict Year 6 teaching to the second half of the summerterm, simply because of the timetable and SATs. I’m always going to be teaching in Year 2.Hopefully next year it’ll [language teaching] be from the beginning of the year – this year itwasn’t, I was embroiled in getting children ready for their Year 2 SATs tests.’ (languagesteacher)‘In Year 6 they’re often quite busy, there isn’t room in a Year 6 curriculum to slot in someenrichment, such as languages.’ (outreach teacher)As one headteacher in a Pathfinder with a well established primary languages programmesaid:‘The staff find it [the primary language] another pressure, because they have to try to findspace for it in the curriculum.’ (headteacher)However, by the second year of the Pathfinder, most of these concerns had been eased andstaff were seeing the benefits.3.1.4. Impact on curriculum; integration within the curriculum; schemes of work; Key Stage2 Framework3.1.4.1. ImpactWhilst the timescale and data do now allow any definitive statement on the possible positiveimpact of languages on pupils’ learning elsewhere in the curriculum, the professional opinionvoiced by many of the participants in the Pathfinders, together with the statements made bythe children themselves, would indicate that this is indeed the case. This varied in relation tothe level of languages established before the Pathfinders commenced. In many schools thefollowing was the case:29