Our Value for this term is RESPECT

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Whitefields Primary

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A Values Based School

Italian

 

At Whitefield, we teach Italian as a foreign language. We believe that learning a foreign language at an early age opens children's minds to language learning and broadens their understanding of grammatical structures. We believe there is a specific advantage to learning Italian because it has its roots in Latin. Because about 60% of the English language is Latin-based, outside of studying Latin itself, Italian can be a major advantage to our children in understanding the root of the words we use in our daily lives.

Click here to read more about how UK schools have adopted the Italian government funded lessons across schools.  We believe that these lessons will be beneficial to our students in the near future, which is shown by the UK government's foreign language as a GCSE target being 90%. 

 

Our pupils come from a broad range of language backgrounds and experiences with many of our pupils having English as an additional language and some children able to speak multiple languages. We believe that the best language teaching is done with passion and commitment to the subject and we are extremely proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Italian Consulate who provide us with Italian teachers:

  • Since September 2022, Maestra Caterino (Mrs Caterino Serena) has joined us teaching in KS1 and KS2.

Children are taught Italian for one session weekly. Different topics are introduced via the use of songs, videos, presentations, flashcards, games and through TPR (total physical response activities).

An important and integral part of all lessons are:

  • Routines, songs (Yr 1-3) and games
  • Understanding and using simple Italian directions and instructions
  • Asking and answering questions about topics
  • Encouraging children to be able to interact with other children and the teacher
  • Developing the 4 skills in listening, reading, writing and speaking

 Children also have the opportunity to discover also about Italian culture, festivals and celebrations including Il Natale (Christmas), La Befana, Carnevale, La Pasqua (Easter), Pinocchio (Italian Fairy Tale).

Year Group Topic Overview

Year 1 – Greetings, colours, numbers to 10, flowers, pets, using our senses, seasons and months

Example Songs – "Giro Girotondo", "Questo é il Ballo di Arlecchino"

Year 2 – Greetings, colours, numbers to 12, toys, Italian rhymes

Example Songs – "Londra Brucia (London's Burning)", "Uno, Due, Tre...", "Rosso, Giallo, Verde, Blu..."

Year 3 – Greetings, colours, numbers to 15, school objects, parts of the body, farm animals

Example Songs – "Nella Vecchia Fattoria", "Testa, Spalle, Gambe ..." , "Ciuf, Ciuf"

Year 4 – Greetings, numbers to 20, instructions, food, clothes, houses and furniture

Example Songs – "Mi Piace", "Viva la Pappa al Pomodoro",  "Oggi Mi Metto"

Year 5 – Greetings, numbers to 50, sport, days of the week, months and seasons, the weather, the family

Example Songs – "I Giorni Della Settimana", "I Mesi Dell’Anno", "Oggi, Oggi", "Hai Fratelli Hai Sorelle"

Year 6 – Numbers to 100, telling the time, daily routine, The Euro, shopping, school subjects, Geography

Italian Syllabus

Colosseo in Roma (Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0)