Modern Foreign Language – Spanish at BPA

Intent

Spanish is the MFL taught at Brentside Primary Academy to all children in KS2. We believe that many children really enjoy learning to speak another language. We also believe that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language in question is acquired. We strongly believe that it is a good idea to introduce a new language to children when they are at primary school, as they tend to be less self-conscious about speaking aloud at this stage of their development. The early acquisition of a foreign language facilitates the learning of other foreign languages later in life.

In line with the national curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages, Brentside Primary Academy 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.

A high-quality languages education should foster children’s curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world whilst also equipping them with the skills and confidence to interact within it, certainly within Spanish speaking countries.

At Brentside Primary Academy, we are committed to ensuring that competence in another language enables children to interpret, create and exchange meaning within and across cultures. It also helps children develop skills that will open further opportunities later in life.

The teaching of Spanish in KS2 provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further foreign language learning at KS3.

Implementation

MFL (Spanish) is taught to all children in KS2 in weekly 60-90 minute lessons. A subject specialist teacher is responsible for all the teaching within the school. 

We follow a Spanish course to develop the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing within the subject such that:

• Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games.
• Links will be established with a Spanish school and the possibility of visiting their school to experience a day in a Spanish school.
• Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in Spanish that are delivered throughout the curriculum content.
• Spanish Day enables the whole school to be immersed in the inclusion of the culture and use the language meaningfully in context.

However, we do not give equal weighting to each of these skills in each unit taught. For example, in the initial stages of our teaching we place particular emphasis on speaking and listening.

Impact

As a result, all our pupils enjoy Spanish lessons and show great enthusiasm in learning the language and about Spanish culture. They recognise and remember key Spanish vocabulary and can write a limited amount in Spanish.

Learning another language gives children a new perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures, their own languages, and the culture and languages of others.

Most of our pupils will achieve age related expectations by the end of each year.