Spanish at St. Monica's

Learning a foreign language is liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.

Intent

The 2014 National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages aims to ensure that all children: 

• Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources. 
• Are able to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and that they are 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.

At St. Monica’s we believe a high quality languages education will foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world, developing their understanding of different cultures. We also believe that learning a language will help children develop skills that will open further opportunities later in life. The teaching of Spanish in KS2 follows the objectives set out in ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Modern Foreign Languages 2014’ and provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language, laying the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3. The intention is to assess and teach the appropriate content in relation to the ability of the child, and to ensure progression when appropriate. We intend to provide all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class aptitude or disability, with a broad and balanced MFL curriculum.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in Spanish, we work with a native Spanish-speaking specialist MFL teacher, who delivers lessons throughout KS2. Children receive a weekly 1 hour Spanish lesson, for 3 half terms per year, throughout their time in KS2. Spanish lessons across the Key Stage support the 4 language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing and deliver the objectives set out in the ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Modern Foreign Languages 2014’ Spanish lessons also include:

• children being taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games

• a high level of pupil involvement, with opportunities for interaction and active learning

• repetition and revision of previously learnt language skills

• the use of the target language at appropriate frequencies

• the use of Spanish in a meaningful way, in a context that children understand

• a wide variety of activities and resources to make learning engaging and enjoyable

Other elements of best practice, which are evident across a Spanish topic include:

• Teaching of the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing).

• Cultural input used to promote intercultural understanding

• Target language used to enhance children’s understanding of their own language

Impact

The impact and measure of MFL teaching at St. Monica’s is that children are able to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and respond to its speakers, in speech and writing.

Pupils also develop language skills and vocabulary throughout each topic, meaning that they can progress successfully to the next stage in their learning (e.g. from topic to topic and from one year to another) and between key points of transition (such as between primary and secondary school).

Assessment is crucial in improving learning. Formative assessment is used to inform the specialist MFL teacher of ongoing progress and allows for timely adjustments or intervention to be made that reflect the learning needs of all children in our school. Feedback is continually given to children, which leads to better outcomes in MFL. In line with our school assessment policy, summative assessment in the form of teacher assessment is carried out at the end of each topic to inform the overall progress made by each child at the end of every topic.

We want the children to be passionate about Spanish and believe language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.