Education (Amendment of the Curriculum Requirements for Second Key Stage) (England) Order 2013

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I thank noble Lords for the opportunity to debate the Government’s proposals for the introduction of compulsory foreign language teaching into primary schools in England. As noble Lords will know, the study of languages is currently a compulsory national curriculum subject in maintained schools in England at key stage 3 only.

In January 2011, the Government launched a review of the national curriculum in England. After consideration of evidence from competitor nations, advice from subject experts and responses to the review’s call for evidence, the expert panel advising the review recommended that the teaching of languages should be introduced at key stage 2. Following this, in June 2012, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education confirmed that it was the Government’s intention to include the teaching of foreign languages at key stage 2 and, in doing so, build on the good work that many primary schools are already doing, and bring us into line with practice in many other countries.

I will say something about why we think this change is essential. Learning a language benefits individuals’ social and economic prospects and the economy more widely. It improves the mind, provides an opening to other cultures and deepens our understanding of the world. It is one mark of an educated person and we want all children to develop confidence and enjoyment in being able to speak another language early in their school life.

It is a sad fact, however, that the state of languages teaching in secondary schools has been in decline for a number of years. One sign of this can be seen in the fall in the numbers of those taking languages GCSEs. It is startling to note that the proportion of the cohort entering for at least one modern foreign language GCSE has declined from a high of 79% in 2001 to 40% in 2011. Other evidence also points to a decline. For example, the 2012 European Survey on Language Competences highlighted the poor state of languages ability among school pupils in England. Specifically, in the first taught foreign language, England had significantly more pupils at the lower proficiency levels and significantly fewer at the highest levels than our European counterparts.

We are committed to changing this situation and improving the teaching of languages. The English baccalaureate performance measure has already started to address the number of pupils studying languages at key stage 4. We believe that introducing languages earlier will improve take-up further still and also help pupils to achieve higher levels of performance at GCSE level and beyond.

We recognise the importance of making foreign languages compulsory at key stage 2, as recommended by the expert panel appointed to advise the national curriculum review. There is evidence that suggests that children are better able to learn the sounds of new languages when they are younger. We have also taken into account previous recommendations, made by Lord Dearing, that the teaching of foreign languages should be compulsory at key stage 2, and the similar conclusions of Sir Jim Rose’s review of the primary school curriculum conducted under the previous Government. Learning languages at an early age also helps general cognitive development. Researchers from University College London in 2004 found that learning other languages altered grey matter—that is, the area of the brain that processes information—in the same way that exercise builds muscles.

We have also taken into account the international evidence that shows that many other jurisdictions recommend the teaching of foreign languages in the primary phase. Indeed, evidence from Europe shows that many countries start a compulsory second language much earlier than at age 11. In Austria, France, Norway and Spain, for example, pupils will have started to learn a second language by the age of seven. We also considered evidence from secondary schools, which told us how difficult it is to plan languages teaching for their new intake that builds on what they may have been taught in primary school. This means that in some circumstances teaching is not built on effectively when pupils start secondary school.

We were encouraged by the recent CfBT Language Trends survey, in which 97% of primary schools reported that they were already teaching a language. The same survey found that more than 80% of primary schools were reasonably confident about meeting the statutory key stage 2 language requirement from 2014. It is uplifting to see examples such as St Paul’s primary school in Brighton, a leading school for the teaching of Spanish, which is taught from reception to year 6.

All pupils should enjoy the benefits of learning a language for at least four years during their primary education, which will enable them to make significant progress. We also believe that making languages compulsory at key stage 2, underpinned by a statutory programme of study, will give secondary schools a much more secure base on which to build.

We have sought views on this proposal both through the national curriculum review call for evidence and a specific consultation exercise on making languages compulsory at key stage 2. Responses on this issue in both exercises were overwhelmingly positive. The large majority of respondents to the consultation—more than 90%—agreed with the Government’s intention to introduce foreign languages at key stage 2. Their arguments included the view that young children have a natural disposition for learning languages. They claimed that making the subject compulsory was important to ensure its place in the curriculum of all schools. They also argued that doing so would lead to better attainment at key stage 3, and greater take-up at key stage 4, and that pupils would benefit from a more global outlook and enhanced career prospects.

Only a very small proportion of respondents—3% —opposed the proposal. Their key argument was that languages should not be a priority for this age group compared with other subjects such as literacy, numeracy and science. The majority of respondents, however, were of the opinion that all children benefited from learning a foreign language and that it widened opportunity.

In November last year, we therefore announced our decision to proceed with the necessary legislation to make languages compulsory at key stage 2. As noble Lords may be aware, on the same date we sought views on a proposal to require primary schools to teach one of the following languages at key stage 2: French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin or ancient Greek. Responses to this second consultation were divided, but the matter for debate today is whether we should make foreign languages a statutory subject at key stage 2. A separate order will be laid subsequently on the proposed list of languages.

We also published, in February this year, a programme of study for key stage 2 languages in draft, along with one for key stage 3. These programmes set out the purpose and aims of study, as well as the subject content to be taught. The intention behind them is that children should enjoy learning a language, with the goal of being able to speak it with increasing confidence and fluency, and finding ways of communicating what they want to say. Having the confidence and ability to use a foreign language for their purposes, as well as for academic study, is very important. We have been extremely encouraged by the very positive response with which these programmes of study were greeted. Our belief that they will provide a challenging, rigorous and appropriate standard has been supported by many respondents.

On the implementation of the proposal, we are carefully considering the responses to the recent consultation on the Government’s wider proposals for reform of the national curriculum. This included a specific question asking for views on the support that schools will need to implement the new national curriculum. Clearly, system leaders, such as teaching schools and national support schools, will play a key role. We are also working with subject associations, publishers and others to ensure that high-quality support is available.

As my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Childcare said in her speech to the National College Fellowship Commission last month, the implementation of this edition of the national curriculum will be unlike previous revisions. There will be a much greater emphasis on freeing up teachers from central government prescription to enable them to make these reforms work in their schools.

Language teaching requires expertise both in using the language and in age-appropriate pedagogy. Many primary schools have already successfully addressed these needs. Making languages compulsory at key stage 2 will build on this good base and on the investment made by previous Governments to support primary languages teaching.

We recognise that training and continuing professional development will, of course, be important, particularly with the new emphasis on written as well as spoken language, but needs will vary from school to school. The Government, therefore, believe as a general principle that schools themselves are best placed to decide what arrangements they need to put in place to support their staff to deliver the new national curriculum.

Making foreign languages compulsory at key stage 2 is a hugely significant step, and one that has and will attract widespread support from the teaching profession and employers. Many primary schools have already made significant progress towards providing languages in key stage 2. Once we have completed the analysis of the responses to the consultation exercise and reflected on the feedback received, we will publish what we intend to be final versions of the new programmes of study. Subject to the will of Parliament those programmes of study will be confirmed in the autumn. I believe that the reforms that we are making will be crucial in helping to improve the standard of languages teaching in England. I therefore commend the order to the House.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation of the order. I should make it clear from the outset that we are not in principle opposed to the requirement to teach a foreign language at key stage 2. In fact, the previous Government led the way on this and were already legislating for it in the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 when the then Opposition refused to support it in the run-up to the general election. If our proposal on the primary school curriculum had been allowed to continue, modern foreign language teaching in primary schools would have been compulsory from 2011; it will not now be compulsory until September 2014.

The order is set against the backdrop of much broader curriculum changes that have been subject to detailed debate and criticism both in your Lordships’ House and in the wider education world. While I am sure that the noble Baroness will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to repeat all those concerns today, some of them are specific to this discussion and I shall address those now. First, the whole process of curriculum reform has been marked by secrecy and a lack of transparency, which is equally true of the foreign language proposals. The Government have carried out two consultations on this issue but the responses were available only when sought by a freedom of information request, so we have to take the summary in the Explanatory Memorandum on trust. Nevertheless we were pleased to see that the vast majority of respondents supported the change in principle.

However, we share the fundamental concerns also identified in the memorandum about the prescriptive list of languages to be taught. It is not at all clear how the list was drawn up and what the evidence base was to determine that these and no other languages should be taught. Why not, for example, include Bengali, Hindi or Arabic, or other languages with strong roots in local communities? I was a school governor a decade or two ago in a south London school with a strong local Portuguese community. Why should that school not be able to benefit from the advantages of pupils who already have some bilingual knowledge in their classroom? I appreciate that the specifics are subject to a separate order and will take note of the Minister’s justification of the list, but I would like to return to this later.

Secondly, we are concerned that the current broad aims of learning set out in the old curriculum are being replaced by a much narrower concentration on pupils acquiring core knowledge. We are concerned that this will have an impact on the way in which any foreign language is taught, will militate against developing a love and respect for other languages, and will be replaced by a more formulistic count of words and phrases that have to be memorised. With a technical emphasis on learning in the curriculum, there appears to be a lack of understanding of the wider benefits of intercultural understanding, access to a global community and greater transferrable skills, although I was pleased to hear the noble Baroness making some references to those issues in her introduction. Can she provide any insight into the teaching guidance that will be given to language teachers to ensure that pupils learn in a broad global context?