Proposed changes to the National Curriculum mean it will soon be compulsory for all
children to learn a foreign language from the age of seven. Here is a handy summary of the aims of the new curriculum and an explanation of how Cloud Cuckoo World can help
achieve these aims.
1) Pupils must learn an appropriate balance of spoken and written language -
Children can hear and read at the same time and listen and repeat phrases as
many times as they like. Cloud Cuckoo activities offer a selection of spoken and
written tasks to be undertaken in groups or individually.
2) Pupils must learn to speak in sentences with correct pronunciation - Clickable
audio resources can be replayed if children are unsure of pronunciation.
Glossaries at the end of stories enable children to revisit new vocabulary and
build their own sentences using the story text.
3) Pupils must be able to express simple ideas with clarity - Topic specific stories
enable students to think carefully about subject related vocabulary. Repetition is
used to reinforce simple sentence structures.
4) Pupils should develop an understanding of basic grammar - Cloud Cuckoo acts
as an introduction to verbs, adjectives, prepositions, imperatives, present tense,
masculine and feminine nouns.
5) Pupils should learn to write phrases and short sentences from memory - The
repetition of important words and phrases throughout the stories helps students
memorise vocabulary. There is opportunity to revisit language in the glossary
section which accompanies each story.
6) Pupils should be acquainted with the songs and poems of languages studied
- The delivery of language learning is conveyed using the conventions of
storytelling.