Spanish

Intent

We offer children success and satisfaction through Spanish. We aim to foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Pupils are taught to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. At Abbott, we recognise the rich variety of languages spoken in the school and encourage the children to apply this to their learning of the new language. We provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries. We are teaching using the Catherine Cheater Spanish scheme to provide a solid underlying structure that enables children to progress year after year in Spanish.

Curriculum

The focus of study is on practical communication, that is relevant to pupils' knowledge and interests. As part of our whole school approach to Modern Foreign Languages, Spanish is used around the school. Children in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 learn through songs and stories and children in Key Stage 2 have weekly timetabled lessons.

The children are taught to:

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others
• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
• present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
• read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
• understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English