Imagine spending two years learning to play the piano, practising your scales and simple tunes, only to arrive at secondary school and be told to start again from scratch. You would sit through lessons learning where middle C is, feeling bored and frustrated, whilst your love of music slowly fades away.

This is exactly what happens to thousands of children learning languages in UK primary schools every single year.

The Transition Gap

When children move from primary to secondary school, something quite demoralising happens with their language learning. Most Year 7 students walk into their first French or Spanish lesson expecting to build on what they have learned. Instead, they often find themselves right back at the beginning, learning "bonjour" and "je m'appelle" all over again.

Why does this happen? The problem is not with the children. Primary schools teach languages in different ways, at different paces, and often choose different languages altogether. One primary might focus on Spanish, another on French. Some schools might have reached greetings and colours, whilst others have covered family members and hobbies. When these children all arrive at the same secondary school, teachers face an impossible task. They cannot build on learning that varies so wildly, so they default to starting from zero.

The result? Children who enjoyed languages in primary school quickly become switched off. They feel like their time was wasted. Worse still, they start to think languages are boring because they are repeating the same basic content year after year.

Why Starting Early Actually Matters

You might wonder if it is even worth teaching languages in primary school if secondary schools are just going to start again anyway. The answer is absolutely yes, but only if we get it right.

Young children are naturally brilliant at picking up languages. Their brains are wired for it. They are less self-conscious about making mistakes, they love mimicking sounds, and they soak up new words like sponges. Between the ages of 5 and 11, children can develop an ear for different sounds and rhythms that becomes much harder to acquire later.

Starting early also normalises language learning as just another part of school life, like maths or PE. Children who begin learning a language in primary school are more likely to see themselves as language learners. They develop curiosity about other countries and cultures at a formative age.

But here is the crucial bit: these benefits only work if there is a clear, structured progression from the very beginning.

What Good Progression Looks Like

The key to successful language learning in primary school is having a comprehensive approach that builds systematically from early years right through to Year 6. This is where many schools struggle, but it is exactly what MANDO SCHOOL provides.

Rather than disconnected lessons or sporadic language activities, a proper progression plan ensures that each year builds naturally on the last. Children in Reception and Key Stage 1 develop their listening skills and begin to recognise and repeat simple words and phrases. By Key Stage 2, they are reading, writing, and having simple conversations with growing confidence.

MANDO SCHOOL's approach gives primary schools a complete roadmap for language teaching from the earliest years. The curriculum is carefully structured so that vocabulary, grammar, and skills develop in a logical sequence. Teachers know exactly what has been covered before and what comes next. This means no gaps in learning and no unnecessary repetition.

When every child in a school follows the same structured programme, it creates consistency. Year 3 teachers know precisely what Year 2 children have learned. Year 6 teachers can build confidently on five or six years of prior learning. Most importantly, when children transition to secondary school, there is a clear record of their language learning journey.

The MANDO SCHOOL Difference

What makes MANDO SCHOOL's approach different is that it treats language learning like any other core subject. Just as schools would not dream of teaching maths without a clear progression from Reception to Year 6, languages deserve the same rigorous planning.

The programme provides everything primary schools need: detailed lesson plans, age-appropriate resources, assessment tools, and teacher support. Even teachers who lack confidence in speaking another language can deliver high-quality lessons because the structure and guidance are all there.

Children experience language learning as a continuous journey rather than isolated activities. They revisit key vocabulary and structures in increasingly sophisticated contexts. They develop all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in a balanced way. By Year 6, they have a solid foundation that secondary schools can genuinely build upon.

What Good Transition Looks Like

In schools using a comprehensive approach like MANDO SCHOOL, transition becomes much smoother. Year 6 teachers can provide detailed information about what children have learned because it is all documented within the programme. Secondary schools receive clear evidence of vocabulary covered, grammar structures taught, and the level children have reached.

Some forward-thinking secondary schools are now choosing to align with the same structured programmes their feeder primaries use. This creates a seamless progression from early years right through to GCSE and beyond.

When this happens, children thrive. They arrive at secondary school confident and ready to take their language skills to the next level. They can hold simple conversations, read short texts, and write basic sentences. Most importantly, they still want to learn more.

The Cost of Getting It Wrong

When transition fails, we do not just waste two or three years of language lessons. We risk putting young people off languages for life.

The statistics tell a worrying story. Entries for GCSE languages have fallen dramatically over the past two decades. Many teenagers choose to drop languages as soon as they are allowed to. When asked why, they often say languages are too hard, too boring, or they cannot see the point.

But what if the real problem starts much earlier? What if these teenagers became disillusioned back in Year 7, when they realised their primary school language learning counted for nothing?

We also waste precious teacher time and resources. Primary teachers plan and deliver language lessons with care and enthusiasm. Children engage, learn, and make progress. Then it all gets thrown away at the transition point. This is frustrating for everyone involved and makes it harder to convince primary schools to invest properly in languages.

Making Languages Count From Day One

Fixing the transition problem starts with getting primary language teaching right from the very beginning. This means moving away from ad hoc lessons and embracing structured, progressive programmes that take children on a clear learning journey.

MANDO SCHOOL provides exactly this kind of comprehensive approach, ensuring that every lesson builds on the last and every year group adds to children's growing language skills. When schools invest in proper progression from early years onwards, they give their pupils the gift of genuine language competence.

Our children deserve better than to start learning French or Spanish three or four times over. They deserve a coherent language education that grows with them, challenges them, and ultimately equips them with skills for life in our interconnected world.

The question is not whether to start languages early. It is how to make sure those early years actually count for something. With the right approach, structured progression, and commitment to building skills systematically from Reception to Year 6, we can transform language learning in primary schools and give children the strong foundation they need to succeed.