I will start with a little bit of background. As some of you will know, I am part of the Primary Languages Network team, looking after administrative tasks. You may not know that I am Czech by birth and English is an additional language for me. I grew up in a family where Czech and Slovak were spoken. We would regularly watch German and Polish TV channels when growing up. There was never a notion that this was somehow strange or that you wouldn’t speak another language. Ok, maybe, my situation was particularly conducive but by no means exceptional. Going to school, I soon began to learn Russi ..read more

Kate Percival, 13th January 2025 The primary timetable has never been so full – we all acknowledge this I’m sure. For the class teacher, the number of hours on each subject simply don’t add up to the number of hours in a school week.  A recent TES article reports that ‘less vital’ curriculum areas are to be ‘combed back’ as part of the curriculum review, but how do you decide? It got me thinking about the real value of primary languages and just how important all of us here at Primary Languages Network believe it is as an aspirational subject with potential to better the life c ..read more

Note before reading- This blog is our lead trainer’s interpretation of the case studies of two award-winning primary languages schools, who spoke at our network meeting last week. We have timestamped throughout the blog, so you can refer to the video to listen in greater depth. At our PLN Networking twilight last week, we heard from two guest speakers; Carol Taylor from Queen’s Park CE Primary School and Jo Richardson from Heyes Lane Primary School, both of whom were Planet Award winners (Pics of them at conference/actual Planet Award trophies) at this year’s Above and Beyond conference in Jun ..read more

So welcome to the world of the “PLN Language Detectives”. Our founder, Janet Lloyd, wants to ensure foreign language learning is accessible to all children, and that the success they feel in primary school becomes the foundation stone to success as they progress through language learning in secondary school and beyond. As a team. we truly believe in opening the window on the wider world of languages and cultures, and offering every child the opportunity to explore and develop their own skills of learning a foreign language. Our methodology is based upon introducing, practising, consolidating ..read more

The core premise of delivering any subject in education is to provide a clear pathway for improvement. We want to take students from position A, and with time and effort move them up to position B, then C, D, E etc. In this blog we talk about what exactly linear progression looks like in primary foreign languages, what is realistic, and how we can make sure we evidence this. What linear progression is in primary languages. Language learning is a multi-factor learning model.All elements of learning are linked, yet also quite different. Makes sense? No, I didn’t think so! Let me make things sim ..read more

Support is at the heart of our service to schools. Subject leads are crucial to the success of primary languages, effective decision making can have a massive impact upon the quality of provision. This is why we offer, as part of our service, consultations with our PLN experts. Schools can book in, any time, with one of our team, at no extra cost, to get the advice they require to make their in school decisions correctly. The consultation service has been our most popular support since it was established, and has had great effect with our coordinators and schools Here are 5 reasons why you sh ..read more

The trending buzzword in the primary languages world seems to be phonics. ‘Progress in phonics first’ ‘Ofsted are only concerned about phonics’ ‘Secondaries won’t move on until they nail phonics’ These seem to be regular statements and phrases that are murmured amongst the languages’ world. In this blog I intend to highlight the truth about phonics in primary languages, and offer certain perspectives and support that should be your primary focus. What is phonics? Before we go any further, let’s establish what this means. There are several definitions that you can refer to, but the simplest, m ..read more

20th September 24 Written by Kate Percival Last Thursday, we were lucky to have a special guest at our PLN networking twilight: Bianka Zemke, HMI Lead for languages at Ofsted.  Bianka joined us to give a presentation on what makes an effective primary languages curriculum. This was followed by an informative Q&A session before we reflected on all that had been said in breakout rooms. There was so much to take from this session.  I know I speak for the wider PLN team as well as the 50 or so member schools who joined us, judging from the number of nodding heads and copious notetaki ..read more

When asked about what were the signs of a primary school that is thriving with its primary languages, Bianka Zemke, HMI Ofsted lead for languages stated immediately ‘It should be felt within the fabric of the school’ A statement that could mean a thousand different things, hard to define, but easy to see when observing. At PLN we observe many schools that demonstrate outstanding practice, and it comes in many forms But one thing is similar between all, the school loves learning languages, you can tell when you walk the corridors, and listen to the register. There are no hidden secrets, or quic ..read more

Primary Languages Network is a company that believes in possibility, it is passionate that every teacher in the UK should have access to resources that enable them to teach primary languages effectively. It doesn’t accept the notion that you should settle for a solution sub-par, or out of date. It has changed its structure and solution time and time again, in order to deliver the highest quality possible support for our schools. The company was born on a vision 13 years ago, that learning a foreign language should be an entitlement for everyone, students and teachers alike. The benefits of le ..read more