Modern Foreign Language

Intent

Our aim in the teaching of a foreign language is to spark interest and enthusiasm.  For our MFL curriculum we have chosen to teach Spanish. 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 The Colleton, we feel that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language will be acquired. We believe that the early acquisition of Spanish will facilitate the learning of other foreign languages later in life. Our approach to teaching Spanish enables children to acquire the skills to confidently and successfully learn other languages in the future.

We aim to ensure that all pupils:

• Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating their ideas and thoughts through discussion, asking questions and continually improving their pronunciation and intonation
• Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using grammatical structures they have learnt
• Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of Spanish writing

Implementation

We teach Spanish across Key Stage 2 using the Language Angels scheme, which has been adapted to the context of our school, to support the teaching and learning of Spanish. This carefully sequenced engaging programme provides clear progression for the development of speaking and listening and vocabulary acquisition. Children will acquire a solid grasp of key, age-appropriate grammatical concepts as well as a grounding in phonics and a bank of key vocabulary, which is visited regularly to ensure retention.

This will be taught through our golden threads which are: Speaking & Listening, Reading & Writing, how language works and discovering another culture.

We 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.
• Geographical and cultural study (maps, videos and pictures)

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 have an appreciation of Hispanic culture, not just in Spain but in all Spanish speaking countries around the world
• Children will transfer this knowledge effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills.

Class teachers will continually assess children’s progression of skills and knowledge during Spanish lessons ensuring all children are supported and challenged appropriately to develop their linguistic knowledge and skills.

To be confident in the impact of Spanish teaching across the whole school community, the subject leader will monitor learning through pupil conference and take part in regular learning walks and by reviewing half-termly low-stakes assessments.