Intent

"Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language."– Frank Smith

Learning another language gives children a new and broader perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others. It provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for our pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It helps them to develop communication skills, including the core skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The children’s knowledge of how language works, phonology and elements of grammar will be developed and extended. Lessons will enable pupils to make substantial progress in our chosen language, Spanish. The transferable language learning skills gained will assist and lay foundations for further language learning. It will provide pupils with the confidence and independence to explore and be able to attempt manipulation of the structure of language.

Over the four years of Key Stage 2, the children of Grove CE Primary will build up their knowledge of Spanish vocabulary and grammar, practising their listening, speaking and writing skills as well as deepening their understanding of different Spanish-speaking cultures from around the world.

The intent of our MFL offer is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more. As a result of this they will:

• ❖ Develop their understanding of other cultures
• ❖ Express their ideas and thoughts in another language
• ❖ Develop curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world
• ❖ Develop an interest to learn other languages
• ❖ 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 what they want to say
• ❖ Continually improve the accuracy of their pronunciation

Implementation

The Legal Position

The National Curriculum sets out the expectations for MFL teaching at KS2, emphasising a need for a balance between oral and written language teaching and a focus on practical communication skills for students. Teaching should enable students to make substantial progress in one language and to prepare students for further foreign language teaching in KS3. Most of our local secondary schools provide Spanish as a modern foreign language, but teaching should create a strong foundation of skills and knowledge which will encourage them to learn other foreign languages too.

Planning

All lessons are supported by high-quality audio clips of native speakers, following the Primary Languages Network scheme of work. Their specialist-led approach, including native speaker video teaching and whole-school CPD, ensures our pupils experience engaging, progressive language learning from Year 3 to Year 6. Each year will build upon the grammar and vocabulary taught in the year before, and opportunities are provided to revisit key vocabulary outside of Spanish lessons; for example, with the Spanish day of the week, date and month of the year written and read each day, or by answering the register with Spanish phrases.

To promote an active learning of languages a range of teaching methods are implemented to ensure that the children are developing their linguistic skills through listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to be secondary ready. Activities can consist of actions, rhymes, stories, song, drama, grammar focus, video clips, air writing, sentence structure, dictionary work, book making and many more creative ways to extend, embed and combine language skills. Written work is kept in workbooks, although formal writing is not the outcome of every lesson. The skill of writing is developed through use of whiteboards and air writing leading to writing in books.

Assessment

Our curriculum is planned to demonstrate progression both in core skills and language learning skills. Assessment for learning takes place during lessons in order to evaluate and provide immediate feedback to improve further. Errors are corrected by being ‘re-framed’ and growth mindset is encouragement for all to ‘have a go’ and learn from any mistakes. Pupils self-assess each learning objective using PLN’s self-assessment cloud documents. There are inbuilt opportunities to carry out summative assessment (Puzzle It Out) three times during the year in listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to track progress. The aim is for a core body of language (words and phrases) to be ‘left in the sieve’ (as quoted by Dr Michael Wardle, HMI Lead for Languages) by the end of each stage.

Through the use of Puzzle It Out assessments and the tracking of results using a spreadsheet, progress can be monitored, and show the impact of language learning. The outcomes of these assessments allow staff to identify any of the core skills which still need developing and any areas of content which need further reinforcement.

Inclusion

All children, regardless of background or any additional needs, have the right to a good quality education. Through differentiation and additional support, all children can enjoy learning a language, develop communication skills, discover more about the world and its diversity, and celebrate and appreciate cultural and linguistic differences. These skills can then be linked to and developed in other curriculum areas.

Impact

By the time our pupils leave us in Year 6, we aim for them to have;

❖ The ability to communicate in another language through writing and speaking.

❖ Knowledge of a culture different to their own.

❖ Excitement and enjoyment about speaking in Spanish.

❖ A foundation for learning further languages in the future.

Spanish Curriculum Progression: