Spanish

A high-quality language education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils 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 pupils to study and work in other countries.’ (National Curriculum 2014)

We believe that a language should be introduced at an early age, in a stimulating, enjoyable and attractive way. We are proud to teach Spanish from Nursery to Year 6, building up the knowledge from the most basic level to a beginner structure level.

We use a variety of techniques to encourage the children to engage actively in the target language: these include games, songs, role-play, writing activities and specific events (Spanish Week, Spanish Breakfast day, etc.). All the input produced is in a foreign language, supported by actions, visuals and prompts.

We are aware of the multilingual society in which we live. For this reason, we believe that learning a new language can do a great deal to shape children’s ideas as well as giving them a new perspective on their own language.

Learning another language - our aims

“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things” Flora Lewis

To foster children’s curiosity about other languages and cultures.
To introduce Spanish as an enjoyable, exciting and interactive way.
To promote children to develop their awareness of cultural differences in other countries.
To develop their speaking,listening, writing and reading skills.
To spark interest in expanding their Spanish knowledge.
To encourage learners to be aware that language has structure and that structures differ from one language to another.

How we teach Spanish

We recognise that learning a language implies three core strands - oracy, literacy and intercultural understanding. We encourage children to develop their strategies for language learning, to apply them in the future when studying another foreign language. A variety of techniques are used during the lesson such as games, role-play, songs and writing activities to achieve the target language. All the input used in the session is done in a foreign language (Spanish) avoiding at any time, any translation. Activities are supported with visuals, to facilitate their understanding and promote the access to any child in the class.

We teach the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing to understand basic grammar, including: gender, high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English. We work really hard promoting interactive, attractive and enjoyable lessons for the students, where they are the main character having as many communication opportunities as possible. All the Units contain information that can be used in real situations, where the Spanish is the main way of communication. Building children's confidence is one of our main targets. To achieve this, we praise them and encourage them to participate as much as possible. In order to make our MFL accessible to any child, we also follow different strategies, which include:

Activities are going to be adapted depending on the level of the child.
Extension activities are going to be put in place, to extend the knowledge of those who are working above the expectations.
Knowledge organizers are going to be provided to recap information when needed.

Spanish books are going to recorded all the learning during the year, where children can check back all the learning previously done.

Spanish Lessons at MPS

MFL is taught at Marlborough Primary School by a qualified native Spanish speaker teacher. Nursery duration classes are 20 minutes, while Reception, KS1 and KS2 are 30 minutes. Spanish is introduced to children at the beginning of EYFS, through nursery rhymes, songs and games. In Reception, we emphasize speaking and listening activities, at the same time that we introduce sound recognition in words applied in matching activities. In KS1 we introduce writing activities with basic grammar aspects. In KS2 we encourage children to produce short simple meaningful sentences and to hold contextualized conversations with at least 3 exchanges. From EYFS to KS2, we work on daily routine questions such as ‘What day is it today?’, ‘What is the weather like today?’ or ‘In which season are we in?’, creating independent learners able to write the date in Spanish and answer the questions without hesitation. Apart from this, we work everyday on key questions such as ‘What is your name?’, ‘How old are you?', or ‘What number is ___?’ to recap all the knowledge previously learnt.

At Marlborough Primary School, we split the learning of Spanish in different Units. From the closest context (numbers, colors, days of the week, etc.) to the furthest context (Food, Clothes, Transport, etc.). In each unit, we recap basic concepts at the same time we add new ones. From KS2, we introduce simple grammar rules where children can begin to understand how Spanish is structured. In this process, ICT platforms as Languagenuts or educandy are used to support students, delivering dynamic and interactive lessons.

In Nursery, we promote the learning by songs, games and interactive activities supported by different platforms such as educandy or languagenuts. All the information given is supported with visuals, prompts and actions, to reinforce their understanding. In Reception, apart from listening and speaking activities, we introduce reading and writing activities based on matching words with pictures. From this stage, they start developing their ability to match a sound with the initial letter of a word, making them able to read it aloud transferring their phonics skills.

In KS1, we keep developing our listening, speaking, reading skills by working on daily routine questions, numbers, key questions and vocabulary words in each unit. Apart from that, we begin developing writing skills by labeling pictures, understanding a few grammar rules, and producing short simple sentences. By the end of KS1 children are taught to know and understand how to:

Ask and answer daily routine questions
Read aloud familiar words with accurate pronunciation
Memorize simple words worked in the units
Understand basic grammar rules
Write simple sentences related to the topic learnt

In KS2, we give a lot of importance to our speaking skills, creating communication situations as much as possible. Apart from that, we promote the development of extensive reading skills, by decoding words that they cannot understand, using the context of the text. By the end of KS2, children are taught to know and understand how to:

Engage conversations, express opinions and respond to those of others.
Understand basic grammar including gender of nouns, definite and indefinite articles, single and plural forms of noun, and conjugation of key verbs.
Write short sentences by heart, using vocabulary previously learned.
Read a short piece of text understanding the main information by using extensive reading skills.
Hold a conversation with three exchanges.
Pronounce familiar words with accuracy, understanding that some Spanish phonics differ from English phonics.

At Marlborough Primary School, we are always looking forward to promoting the learning of a language outside the classroom, by hosting events, such as ‘Spanish Breakfast’ or ‘Spanish Week’.

We achieve:

Our MFL curriculum will ensure all pupils to achieve a certain language learning skill, set out by the national curriculum, which will allow them to:

Identify a wide variety of Spanish words used in real contexts.
Understand and respond to key questions needed to keep a short-long conversation.
Develop new learning skills that can be applied to learn another language.
Improve the pronunciation
Be able to communicate themselves in Spanish
Learn about different cultures where Spanish is spoken
Acquire the basis pillars to start building up a deeper understanding of the language itself
Develop their confidence with their linguistic skills
Make connections and comparisons which will deepen their understanding both in the target language an in English

Cross curricular links:

We try to create as many communication opportunities as possible, where Spanish is being used as the main language. These opportunities can be exploited in different areas:

English: developing speaking and listening skills, grammar, sentence construction, comparisons between languages, patterns of language.
Computing: taking advantage of ICT to promote communication using Spanish as the main language.
Math: counting, dates, calculations, money, time etc.
Geography: work, climate, weather, differences between places.
Science: parts of the body, animals, space, etc.
Music: rhyme, rhythm, singing, composition, world music.
RE: the celebration of festivals, storytelling, calendars, customs, international and multicultural work.
History: study of other countries and cultures.
Art: colours, famous artists, descriptions.
PE: physical responses to instructions in Spanish.