Spanish

Mrs McKay is a Spanish speaker and has a really strong knowledge of Spanish culture, having lived in Spain for a number of years.  This means that children are used to hearing Spanish spoken as part of their wider learning and classroom routines and this supplements their learning in our Spanish lessons on the timetable.  We also make use of the Speekee Spanish resources. Speekee uses video to demonstrate language; videos are filmed in Spain with Spanish children speaking their first language.  This means that our children have excellent modelled examples of both language structure, vocabulary and pronunciation. 

Our Spanish lessons are taught in a way which supports long term retention of learning.  Children have access to high-quality models and also have the opportunity to consolidate their Spanish through regular practice.  At the end of each half term, children take part in an informal speaking activity which gives their teacher a formative opportunity to assess; the topics for speaking are cumulative, meaning that language from previous units of study are included, giving learners the chance to recall and practice substantive knowledge from further back in the curriculum.

Teachers deliver our Spanish curriculum with reference to our ‘Epic Learning’ skills.  There are points within and at the end of each unit for learners to gain feedback from peers and from their teacher about their spoken and written Spanish and they are given the opportunity to respond to this feedback and develop their work.

We use our MFL/Spanish lessons to continue to promote our value of community.  We talk to children about language and its power in enabling people to become part of the European and global community.  We have audited Speekee resources to check that the children featured in them are representative of diversity in British society.

We have 3 Spanish culture days each year when children have the opportunity to practice their Spanish with staff.  They look at modern and traditional Spanish music and are able to try traditional Spanish food.  We hope to make some wider connections with a Spanish-speaking school and some people in the local community to further enrich our work.