Yesterday saw the publication of the Language Trends 2021 report. Its headlines have been widely reported in the press, for example in this article in The Guardian.
The report has found that:
- during the first lockdown (March-June 2020) language teaching was discontinued in 53% of primary schools
- during the most recent lockdown (January-March 2021) language teaching was suspended in 1 in 5 primary schools (20%) due to the pandemic, the impact being felt most acutely in more deprived areas.
- the pandemic exacerbated challenges that schools already experience with the delivery of languages
Many children are still withdrawn from languages lessons for interventions, often for English or Maths, and therefore miss the vital small steps of learning that will help them to make progress. This makes it clear, I hope, that withdrawing children from languages is not ideal. It's likely to have less of an impact on other subjects:
It's also worth noting that this guidance, although non-statutory, is for all maintained schools, academies and free schools. It also states that schools should continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum in all subjects. Hopefully the teaching of primary languages will pick up again in the 2021-22 year.
Ever since the Dfe determied that it was possible to get top marks in a language without speaking it, it's all become a bit of a joke.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. Can you explain how it applies to Languages in the primary sector, where no formal marks are given?
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