Intent
At Button Lane Primary, our KS2 pupils study Spanish. The teaching of languages to young children is now widely recognised as having an impact on improving literacy, building self-confidence and widening cultural horizons. At Button Lane Primary School we encourage young people to understand and use the life skills that learning a foreign language brings. We recognise the impact it can have on improving speaking and listening skills, appreciation of other cultures and enthusiasm for new forms of learning, which is deep, meaningful and empowers children to be aspirational.
Our approach to high-quality language teaching enables our children to articulate their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both orally and in writing. It also provides opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes and learn new ways of thinking.
Throughout our Spanish curriculum, we aim to develop confidence, knowledge and transferrable skills for language learning, providing the foundation for further learning thrughout high school. Moreover, we aim to encourage new aspirations and inspire them to explore new countries and cultures. We want to introduce our children to a world beyond the one they are familiar with, offering them new aspirations and life experiences, as well as preparing them to become respectful and tolerant citizens of a multi-lingual and cultural world.
Two underlying principles underpin our Spanish curriculum:
- Children should enjoy their early years of learning Spanish and to enjoy the sights and sounds of Spanish speaking countries, the rhythm of the language and the real pleasure that can be gained from contact with the written word.
- Children should make real and measurable progress in their learning through innovative activities, challenging tasks and the desire to understand more and more as they listen to, speak and read Spanish. This ensures that all children develop a strength of character and resilience that promotes positive physical and mental health.
Implementation
Our Spanish curriculum is in line with the National Curriculum for languages. Spanish lessons are delivered weekly by Mrs Dew to years 3, 4, 5 and 6. We plan our teaching using the Catherine Cheeter Scheme of Work. This organises the National Curriculum Objectives under the following headings:
- Oracy - speaking and listening
- Literacy - reading and writing
- Intercultural Understanding
Teachers look for ways in which Spanish can be incorporated in to daily routines, for example, during the register, and through cross-curricular links such as in the Year 4 Geography project ‘Where is Spain?’.
Our curriculum meets the following aims:
- Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources, including stories, songs, poems and rhymes
- Speak 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
- Can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Impact
Assessment is used as a tool to inform our teaching and learning and to measure the impact of the curriculum we have created. We vary our approach to assessment to ensure it is tailored towards each subject. It takes place purposefully and meaningfully at key points across the year.
We assess Spanish in the following ways:
- Formative and summative assessments
- Observational assessments take place during Spanish lessons – Oracy, written and intercultural understanding
- Looking at children’s books
- Weekly reviews to assess prior knowledge and starting points at the beginning of each lesson
- Moderation within school using the pupils books, observations and end of unit projects/outcomes using clear descriptors
- Pupil Voice
Conversations between subject leaders and class teachers take place to ensure that standards across the curriculum are monitored and reported annually to staff, parent’s and governors