Modern Foreign Languages

Spanish Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

‘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.’ (National Curriculum 2014 – Appendix A)

Learning a language enriches the curriculum helping to create enthusiastic learners and to develop positive attitudes to language learning throughout life. The skills, knowledge and understanding gained  contribute to the development of children’s oracy and literacy and to their understanding of their own culture and those of others.

At Harpenden Academy, we feel that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language in question is acquired. We believe that the early acquisition of Spanish  in KS2 will facilitate the learning of other foreign languages later in life. We aim to prepare children for the KS3  language curriculum to enable them to transfer confidently and successfully. Our 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. It aims 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. It 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 KS2 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 KS2 alongside Reading and Writing skills, gradually progressing to more complex language concepts and greater learner autonomy.

Through our 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

We teach Spanish across Key Stage 2. The school uses the ‘PlanIt’ scheme of work to support the teaching and learning of Spanish. This provides clear progression for the development of speaking and listening and vocabulary acquisition. There are resources to support the teaching and learning opportunities for pupils. 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 and adapted by each teacher to be able to suit the needs of all of our children, 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.

Impact

Through the high quality first teaching of Spanish taking place we will see the impact of the subject in the following ways: 

• The profile of languages across the school will increase
• Children will be able to communicate with each other in Spanish.
• Children will become aware that a language has a structure, and that the structure differs from one language to another.
• Children will develop their language through development of the four key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
• Children will enrich their language learning by developing an understanding of the Spanish culture via displays around school
• Children will learn how language skills can be applied to a range of languages.
• Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills.

Impact can also be measured through key questioning skills built into lessons, child-led assessment such as success criteria grids, jigsaw targets and KWL grids and summative assessments aimed at targeting next steps in learning.

MFL lessons at Harpenden Academy

During language lessons children have had the opportunity to enjoyed being exposed to a new and culture in a fun and practical way e.g. through songs and games.

Extra-Curricular activities

Linguafanatics offer both Spanish and French clubs.

These are run during lunchtimes.