1 Corinthians 14:10 

There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning.

INTENT:

Learning a foreign language is a necessary part of being a member of a multi-cultural society and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable children to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping children to study and work in other countries.

The skills, knowledge and understanding gained through learning a language contribute to the development of children’s oracy and literacy and to their understanding of their own culture and those of others. At St Michael’s Primary School, we feel that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language in question is acquired. We believe that the early acquisition of Spanish will facilitate the learning of other foreign languages later in life. We aim to prepare children for the KS3 language curriculum to enable them to transfer confidently and successfully.

 

IMPLEMENTATION:

We teach Spanish across Key Stage 2. The school uses the Primary Languages Network scheme of work to support the teaching and learning of Spanish. This provides clear progression for the development of speaking and listening and vocabulary acquisition. There are resources to support the teaching and learning opportunities for pupils.  In order to support retrieval and the development of knowledge, Spanish is taught daily in KS2.  In KS1, some key commands are used in Spanish to familiarise children with the language and the children learn Spanish songs as part of their worship repertoire.

Teachers use a variety of the following techniques to encourage children to have an active engagement with Spanish:

• Games – in order to develop vocabulary through repetition, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

• Role-play – these should relate to the situations the children may find themselves in the future.

• Action songs and rhymes – to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to further vocabulary.

• Reading and writing quality materials.

• We build children’s confidence through praise for any contribution they make in the foreign language, however tentative.

 We base the teaching on the 2014 National Curriculum through Primary Languages Network. We have adapted this to the context of our school. This provides teachers with clear progression grids and content for teaching and learning.

 

IMPACT:

Through the high quality first teaching of Spanish taking place we will see the impact of the subject in the following ways:

• Children will become aware that a language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another.

• Children will develop their language and communication through development of the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.

• Children will enrich their language learning by developing an understanding of the Spanish culture.

• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills.