Spanish

A different language is a different vision of life

Intent

Our children will:

understand that learning a foreign language is an important part of being a member of a multi-cultural society;
be exposed to regular opportunities for cultural capital to increase enjoyment and to establish a meaningful context for language learning;
understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources;
peak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation;
be able to write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learned;
discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore, other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that, in a multi-lingual society it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language;
develop a solid foundation of vocabulary, language and phonics, which pupils can build on at KS3, KS4, KS5 and beyond, arriving at KS3 feeling confident in what they have studied so far so that they can make good progress.

Implementation

In line with the National Curriculum for Languages, pupils at St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary school are taught Spanish throughout KS2.

High quality MFL teaching in primary school is our ultimate goal with our curriculum carefully planned around the three pillars of language learning: phonics, vocabulary and grammar. This forms part of a larger progressive curriculum into KS3 and KS4. In their study of languages, pupils will develop their understanding and awareness of vocabulary and opinions, manipulating language and accuracy in grammar and spelling, by:

learning languages on a ‘loop’. Our series of lessons and units enable pupils to constantly revisit and build on prior knowledge, with each year group’s knowledge building upon the previous learning. Recall is continuous so that knowledge is steadily built;
building knowledge effectively with a consistent approach to our lessons. We aim to develop listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills simultaneously;
ensuring substantive and disciplinary knowledge are explicitly taught and blended in teaching and planning as both are necessary for progress in learning. By substantive knowledge we mean the key content of each unit, for example key vocabulary to describe yourself physically. By disciplinary knowledge we mean the linguistic skills necessary to use their substantive knowledge effectively, for example adjective agreement related to physical description. Students will develop understanding of grammar and phonics.

The curriculum is delivered using the Rachel Hawkes scheme of work. This scheme fully prepares students for further language study at GCSE.

The grammar and phonics content of these SOW overlap 100% with the new GCSE subject content. The vocabulary overlap is between 90 – 96% (depending on language and awarding organisation). Precise detail on individual words is provided in each SOW. This means that almost all the words taught at KS2 will also be needed for and revisited with a purpose at KS3 and KS4.

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.

Enrichment

A whole school Spanish day where we explore the culture, food and traditions of Spain.

Continue to apply Spanish outside of lessons e.g. answering the register, practising key phrases, saying the sign of the cross in Spanish.

A whole school display where the benefits of speaking another language is highlighted and shows what pupils can achieve when they study another language.

Link with a secondary school and to visit for a languages day.