MFL

Overview

Pupils in years 3 to 6 benefit from the opportunity of learning Spanish. Through this, we feel that it is important that our language teaching gives them explicit language knowledge and strategies which can help them with future study of other languages.

All pupils are taught all four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing and each of these skill areas are practised, consolidated, reinforced and assessed on a regular basis. There is a positive and innovative approach to target language teaching and we encourage our pupils to use the language for their own purposes. We want to develop our pupils’ independence and communication in languages by developing these core skills:

• Vocabulary and sequencing (including verbs)
• Knowledge of phonics
• Explicit use and understanding of grammar

During the year, in order to inspire pupils across the school to develop a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning Spanish, we have a special “Spanish Day” which all children in years 1 – 6 take part in.

The children are encouraged to dress in Spanish colours, and to take part in a carousel of activities through the day which could include:

• The Spanish teacher to carry out a range of fun Spanish Activities.
• Learn Spanish  through a song or poem
• Taste Spanish cuisine
• Pupils will be taught the geography of Spain
• Pupils will learn about Spanish artists
• Pupils will take part in Spanish sports

Special Events

During the year, in order to inspire pupils across the school to develop a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning Spanish, we have a special “Spanish Day” which all children in years 1 – 6 take part in.

The children are encouraged to dress in Spanish colours, and to take part in a carousel of activities through the day which could include: 

• The Spanish teacher to carry out a range of fun Spanish Activities. 
• Learn Spanish  through a song or poem 
• Taste Spanish cuisine 
• Pupils will be taught the geography of Spain 
• Pupils will learn about Spanish artists
• Pupils will take part in Spanish sports

The Journey

The children at Shepherd Primary begin exploring the sensational Spanish language in Year 3. We are extremely fortunate to have a specialist Spanish teacher who teaches at The Reach Free School.  Being a native of Spain, she supports the children’s pronunciation through exposing them to the correct formulation of sounds.

Year 3

This is a fabulous year to begin their learning of a foreign language, especially as that language is Spanish which links directly to their Autumn Term Creative Curriculum of ‘Spain’. This is a marvellous opportunity to make cross-curricular links within their learning.  There are four different aspects of learning a foreign language: speaking, listening, writing and reading.  The Spanish teacher incorporates all these aspects when teaching the Year 3 children all about:

• Greetings
• Numbers
• Animals
• Colours
• Days of the Week
• Food

The teaching of grammar is also included during their Spanish lessons, whereby they are taught about the different vowel sounds, nouns and verb forms.

Year 4

The children’s learning journey continues by revising and building upon their previous learning of numbers and colours.  They are then introduced to new learning:

• Birthdays
• Celebrations
• Seasons
• Family
• Descriptions.

Similar to Year 3, there are opportunities for cross-curricular learning as the creative curriculum is ‘Europe’.  This allows the children to explore the different celebrations that take place in Spain: ‘Dia de los Muertos’ – Day of the Dead!

Year 5

The learning of numbers continues within Year 5. The children also build upon their previous learning of ‘food’ by incorporating it within asking and answering questions in Spanish: thinking about what food they like and dislike and forming their own opinions.  This directly relates to their Design & Technology project of ‘Vegetables from around the World’ (Food and Nutrition).

In addition to the above, the children begin to explore the topics:

• Time
• Sport
• Music and Instruments

Year 6

By the time the children have reached Year 6, they have been exposed to and have learnt a wide range of topics whilst developing their language acquisition.  The children begin Year 6 by recalling and accumulating all their previous knowledge from years 3 to 5.  This is then built upon by exploring the use of verbs, adjectives and pronouns.  These skills are applied to describing the weather, Spanish speaking countries, places in the city and Spanish festivals.  This is an amazing cross-curricular link as the children in Year 6 learn all about ‘Mexico’ which includes its climate, festivals and location.