Modern Foreign Language (Spanish) Policy

Aims

• In our school we teach a foreign language to all our KS2 children as part of our normal school curriculum.

• We believe that a learning a foreign language prepares pupils to participate in a rapidly changing world in which work and other activities are often carried out in languages other than English.

•  The choice of which language to teach is secondary to the lifelong language learning skills that the pupils will be encouraged to develop.

• Skills that they will be able access in the future will help them to learn new languages or to improve their competence in an existing language.

• Increased capability in the use of a foreign language promotes initiative, confidence and independent learning and encourages diversity within society.

Intent:

At Torrisholme our intent for our Spanish curriculum is:

• To foster an interest in learning other languages;
• To introduce young children to another language in a way that is enjoyable and fun;
• To make young children aware that language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another;
• To help children develop their awareness of cultural differences in other countries;
• To develop their speaking and listening skills;
• To lay the foundations for future study.

Implementation:

• Spanish is the language that is taught in our school.
• The curriculum that is followed is based on the guidance given in the revised National Curriculum, using the Language Angels scheme of work as a basis to create our bespoke, personalised Spanish curriculum.
• Our Spanish curriculum has been crafted to provide clear progression throughout KS2 and is regularly reviewed to ensure it is challenging and engaging for the current cohort of children.
• When starting in KS2 every child receives a Spanish exercise book. These are used to record writing and reading, as well as enabling pupils to keep a vocabulary log which is for their use.
• Speaking and listening work lays the fundamental foundations of learning a language and is integral to every Spanish lesson. Children engage with a wide range of speaking and listening tasks which expose them to a variety of native speakers.

The children are taught to know and understand how to:

• Ask and answer questions;
• Use correct pronunciation and intonation;
• Memorise words;
• Interpret meaning;
• Understand basic grammar;
• Use dictionaries;
• Work in pairs and groups, and communicate in Spanish;
• Look at life in another culture.
• During Spanish lessons, children are given the opportunity to work as a class, as individuals and as part of a group.
• The choice of class organisation is determined by the learning task.
• By its nature, language learning will involve lots of interaction with visual, auditory and kinaesthetic prompts.

Inclusion

• All KS2 pupils shall have the opportunity to learn to speak a language.
• Most assessment is formative and is used to support teaching and learning and inform future planning.
• The teacher assesses the children's progress in the Spanish based on their achievement of the learning objectives in lessons.
• When written work is produced, it is marked in line with the school policy.

Extra-Curricular

To enable children to expand their love of language learning and to foster this interest from a young age we implement:

• Annual Spanish curriculum days for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Children embark on a Spanish journey learning about both the culture and language of Spanish speaking countries in interactive lessons. In previous years this has involved planning and budgeting for a holiday to Spain, creating Pablo Picasso inspired portraits, playing Spanish parachute games, flying on an ‘aeroplane’ to different Hispanic countries and learning pop songs with Spanish lyrics.
• Spanish After School Club. This is rotated for each phase across the school to enable all children to expand their passion for languages. The club has been very popular and is planned based on the children’s interests. In previous years this has included learning about Spanish footballers, how to order food in a restaurant and about Spanish artwork.

Impact:

The impact of our Spanish curriculum is carried out in the following ways:

• End of unit assessments which assess the children’s speaking, listening, reading  and writing skills
• Informal discussions with staff and pupils
• Pupil voice questionnaires
• Work sampling
• Learning walks

This policy is reviewed annually by the MFL subject leader. This policy is due for review in September 2024.