Spanish

Intent

At Birchfields Primary School, it is our intent to provide all Key Stage Two children with a high quality education in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) which develops a curiosity about other languages and an understanding of other cultures.

The current MFL is Spanish, taught through the Twinkl PlanIt Spanish Scheme. It is our intention to ensure that our pupils have acquired an understanding of spoken and simple written Spanish, having the confidence to speak in Spanish with others; have an understanding of where Spanish and other languages are spoken around the world and recognise the significance of learning languages in their lives and futures.

PlanIt Spanish

PlanIt Spanish offers a coherently planned sequence of lessons, ensuring progressive coverage of the skills required by the national curriculum. The chosen themes - Our Past, Let's Explore a Spanish Town and Discovering Spain - provide an introduction to the culture of Spanish-speaking countries and communities. These aim to foster children’s curiosity and help deepen their understanding of the world. A linear curriculum has been chosen to allow an opportunity for children to gradually build on their skills. PlanIt Spanish enables children to express their ideas and thoughts in Spanish, providing opportunities for them to interact and communicate with others for practical purposes both in speech and in writing. We aim to expose children to authentic Spanish and offer regular opportunities to listen to native speakers. The intent in Lower Key Stage 2 is that children acquire basic skills and understanding in Spanish, with a strong emphasis placed on developing their Speaking and Listening ability. These will be further developed in Upper Key Stage 2 alongside Reading and Writing skills, gradually progressing to more complex language concepts and greater learner autonomy. Through the implementation of the PlanIt Spanish scheme, we aim to inspire pupils to develop a love of languages and to expand their horizons to other countries, cultures and people. We intend to help children grow into curious, confident and reflective language learners and to provide them with a foundation that will equip them for further language studies.

Implementation

Our MFL curriculum is designed to develop our children’s language skills, but also to broaden their exposure to learning another language (beyond the home languages spoken by the majority of pupils).

All children in Key Stage 2 have three, one hour lessons per half term, so cover 3 full units from the PlanIt Scheme each year. Three units from the six provided in the PlanIt Scheme have been carefully selected to ensure continuity and progression of skills from unit to unit and year to year.

Children record their work through labelling, matching and writing words and sentences on worksheets which are kept in folders. Each class has a Spanish journal. These contain QR codes which can be used to access videos or sound clips of children speaking Spanish during lessons. Photographs of activities or special events will also be included in the journals where appropriate.

Children are provided with key vocabulary for each unit, which is also displayed in classrooms.

To maintain a high profile of the language, teachers are encouraged to use Spanish in everyday contexts in the classroom.

PlanIt Spanish

Lessons are sequenced so that prior learning is considered and opportunities for revision of language and grammatical concepts are built into lessons. Our lessons and resources help children to build on prior knowledge alongside the introduction of new skills. A series of lessons are suggested, providing structure and context as well as offering an insight into the culture of Spanish-speaking countries and communities. The introduction and revision of key vocabulary and grammatical structures is built into each lesson. This vocabulary is then included in display materials and additional resources so that children have opportunities to repeat and revise their learning. PlanIt Spanish has been designed by our language specialist teaching team, including Spanish native speakers, so that teachers feel confident and supported.

All of our lesson packs contain adult guidance, accurate language subject knowledge and accompanying audio materials.