Written question asked by Peter L Pike (Labour) on Monday, 10 July 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 July 2000. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 July 2000 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what plans the Government has to increase the teaching of a second language in primary and junior schools.

Answer: Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans the Government have to increase the teaching of a second language in primary and junior schools. [130286] Jacqui Smith: Around a quarter of all primary schools already offer a second language. The revised National Curriculum, published last November, contains guidance for teaching 7 to 11-year olds, covering skills, knowledge and understanding. It also contains suggested attainment targets. Furthermore, we have published a Scheme of Work for French aimed at this age group, and will add German and Spanish later this month. We are piloting approaches to extending language teaching in primary schools, through our Early Language Learning initiative, in which we are gathering good practice and providing classroom materials and a draft curriculum framework. We have asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to consider the potential to extend this further in the longer term.

Secondary information