Spanish

At St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School we aim to foster an interest in, and to stimulate and encourage children’s curiosity about the world around them by introducing children to another language in a way that is enjoyable and fun. We want to help our children develop their awareness of cultural differences in other countries and 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 EYFS, KS1 and KS2 provides an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and lays the foundations for further foreign language teaching at KS3. It encourages children to be aware that language has structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another.

At St Johns we do not follow a scheme of work for Spanish – we’ve split our year into six different topics, one for each half term. The six topics cover the National Curriculum expectations and the content covered in each topic progresses as children move up the school. The whole school studies the same topic at the same time. This allows the children to practice their new skills with each other – with their classmates, their peers on the playground and their siblings at home. By repeating the same topics every year as they move up the school, the children are able to build upon the previous year’s knowledge while progressing their understanding of the language.

Spanish is taught weekly across the school by the class teacher and also discretely through some Topic units. We have a Spanish corridor display at school that is updated every half term to reflect the topic being taught. Children are given access to dual language books at varying levels as well as bilingual dictionaries. Spanish culture is celebrated through Hispanic Day and International Day events and children also develop an appreciation of Spanish culture through a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes that are delivered through the curriculum content.

We believe that by learning a foreign language, children develop an understanding of their own culture and that of others. Learning that people have different tastes, opinions and views of the world teaches them principles of tolerance and respect of each other’s values. Our school curriculum ensures that children develop their knowledge of where different languages, including Spanish, are spoken in the world. Learning a foreign language also helps children to develop their confidence with their linguistic skills.

The skills and knowledge gained through learning a new language make a contribution to the development of children’s oracy and literacy. By learning about the grammatical structure and patterns of another language, children can make connections and comparisons which will deepen their understanding both in the target language and in English.