Languages
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.” Chinese Proverb
Intent
The intention of the Spanish curriculum at All Saints’ C of E Primary School is to teach a foreign language in a very enjoyable and practical approach. Our children are very curious about the world and different countries, so with Spanish we offer a window that makes them aware of the cultural richness and the various possibilities that can be acquired with a new language.
Our curriculum also includes KS1, giving our pupils early skills that can be used progressively in KS2. In KS1, the children become familiar with new sounds and start creating a bank of ideas of useful words for topics such as greetings, numbers, colours, fruits, animals, family and parts of the body, amongst others.
When our children start KS2, they are quite familiar with the Spanish language and are ready to apply their previous knowledge to listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and thus consolidate not only their target language, but also foundations for future languages.
Implementation
Spanish lessons take place every other half-term, for 45 minutes once per week. Children are introduced to Spanish language in Year 1 with basic instructions in the classroom, songs and varied games. Our children develop early language acquisition skills that facilitate their understanding of the target language and help them to compare this new language with English and any other native language. When the children find similarities and differences with their own languages, they are more able to identify the pattern in Spanish and learn it more easily.
In KS2, the Spanish lessons support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with song and games. At All Saints', we support our lessons following the primary MFL scheme from Rachel Hawkes amongst other resources.
Each new term we recap units previously learnt not just in the same year but also related knowledge from previous years and this is embedded throughout the lessons. This helps to reinforce the progressive learning from one year to the next one.
Impact
Through the Spanish lessons we see the impact of the subject in several aspects:
- Children are developing four skills while learning Spanish; speaking, listening, reading and writing.
- Children enjoy learning about other cultures where Spanish is spoken.
- Children are more aware of the target language's structure and how similar/different it can be with other languages.
- Children are well familiar and ready for the transition to KS3 to continue with the learning of Spanish or any other modern language.
Below you can see the topics that are taught in Spanish for each year group.
Please note that Spanish and Music teaching alternates each half-term.