Spanish
Intent
At New Moston Primary School, the main focus of our MFL curriculum will be to give learners a well-rounded knowledge of the basics of our chosen language: Spanish. Our MFL curriculum provision intends to foster our pupils' natural curiosity to explore languages and other cultures, valuing that in a multi-lingual society, communicating effectively with others in another language is a valuable and rewarding skill. Our children realise the importance of global citizenship.
Implementation
New Moston Primary School is part of the Primary Languages Network, who provide a specialised scheme of work delivered by a Spanish speaking teacher. Using this, our Spanish teacher has developed a curriculum that has been carefully devised from Years 1 to 6 which incorporates the objectives set out in The National Curriculum. This programme has been sequenced to ensure prior knowledge is considered and there are opportunities in each lesson for this to be revised and built upon. There is also the opportunity in each lesson for children to develop their language skills and use these skills in a variety of different ways. Lessons are fast-paced and interactive to ensure all children are well engaged and learning throughout. Class teachers are present for each session to support, reinforce and receive CPD on the aims and objectives of modern foreign language teaching and assessment. Opportunities are also offered for children to gain an insight into the culture of Spain, including many of the religious festivals. It is essential that children have a grasp of all four language skills, yet this must be structured and built carefully.
During weekly sessions, the children will be provided with an appropriate balance of spoken and written language that will lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching at Key Stage 3. We develop our learners' language skills to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and writing.
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, the children are introduced to key vocabulary and phrases in fun and exciting ways to create an interest and to build a foundation of knowledge of this new language.
In Lower Key Stage Two, there is a large emphasis for children to develop their listening and speaking skills as this allows them to begin creating a bank of Spanish vocabulary and to develop an understanding of the phonetical rules. It also ensures children have a love of language and are confident in speaking and engaging in conversations. Children will start to look at basic grammar rules which will support their language learning. Opportunities are also however, provided for children to practise their reading and writing skills in these early stages.
By Upper Key Stage Two, these skills will be developed on and extended with plenty of opportunities to practise their reading and writing skills. Children will write at length and be able to read longer passages of Spanish. They will also be confident to perform a short conversation in Spanish showing the skills they have acquired. Alongside this, they will also look at more complex grammar rules and compare these to English rules. Throughout this, there have been opportunities to enhance children’s knowledge about Spanish life and culture which will enthuse them about language learning and offer them a broader view of the world.
Through our curriculum theme days, we celebrate language as a whole school, where pupils can learn about and develop an appreciation of the culture in countries where Spanish is the official language. An example of this being Latin Day, where each class chose a country from Latin America to research and learn about. The children have also had visitors into school to teach them different Latin dances, including Flamenco and Salsa.
As a school, we also offer a Spanish Club to the children of KS2 to further develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. As well as this, we have a subscription the website Linguascope, where the children can learn Spanish through games at school and from home.
Impact
The impact of New Moston’s Spanish lessons will be measured in a number of different ways. We want to ensure that language learning is loved and valued by all of our children, encouraging them to embark on further language studies in KS3. Impact can also be measured through ongoing assessment during lessons, to measure children’s progress as well as through learning walks and book looks. Assessments at the end of each term also ensures there is good progress with all pupils. Through pupil voice, we can establish how engaged children are with their learning. It is an opportunity for children to talk about why language learning is so important in a modern world and what they enjoy most about learning Spanish. It is hoped that by the time they leave New Moston:
• Pupils develop a love of language learning and are beginning to become good global citizens, understanding that there are different cultures and languages around the world
• All pupils are able to succeed in Spanish lessons
• Pupils have a bank of Spanish knowledge and vocabulary
• Pupils have developed a strong understanding of the four skills of language learning
• Pupils are able to speak confidently and maintain a conversation in Spanish in front of an audience or their peers
• Pupils can recognise and understand some of the grammar rules of Spanish and can apply these in their written and spoken work
• Pupils can read passages confidently in Spanish and understand what they have read