Laver Close, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG5 7LS

01159 560990

office@coppicefarm.notts.sch.uk

Coppice Farm Primary School

A small school with a HUGE heart!

SPANISH

Spanish Lead: Mr M Terry

“Languages are an essential part of a broad, balanced curriculum. Not only do they provide an opportunity to communicate more effectively with others. They also help children to understand what it is to be a global citizen. This includes the importance of tolerance and understanding, which is crucial knowledge in today’s world." - Michael Wardle HMI Subject Lead for Languages.


Why Learn a Language?
Language learning has been shown to improve a student's cognitive function, including, but not limited to:
• Enhanced problem solving skills
• Improved verbal and spatial abilities
• Improved memory function (long & short-term)
• Enhanced creative thinking capacity
• Better memory
• More flexible and creative thinking

At Coppice Farm Primary School, we aim to give our children a lifelong love of learning languages. We want them to enjoy learning Spanish and to use it confidently.

Intent

  • Plan our Language Angels-based curriculum to ensure all KS2 pupils develop a genuine interest, positive curiosity and appreciation for foreign languages and cultures.
  • Explore the relationships between language and identity so children have a deeper knowledge and understanding of the world around them, awareness of self and cultural similarity and difference.
  • We access the Language Angels scheme of work and resources to ensure we offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes.
  • All pupils will be expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning - the ultimate aim being that pupils will feel willing and able to continue studying languages beyond key stage 2.
  • This will ensure that the foreign language knowledge of our pupils progresses within each academic year and is extended year upon year throughout the primary phase and, in so doing, will always be relevant and in line with meeting or exceeding national DfE requirements.
  • This will enable pupils to use and apply their learning in a variety of contexts, laying down solid foundations for future language learning and also helping the children improve overall attainment in other subject areas.
  • All pupils will develop a genuine interest and positive curiosity about foreign languages, finding them enjoyable and stimulating. Learning a second language will also offer pupils the opportunity to explore relationships between language and identity, develop a deeper understanding of other cultures and the world around them with a better awareness of self, others and cultural differences. The intention is that they will be working towards becoming life-long language learners. 

We aim for all pupils in languages to be able to:

  • Manipulate language to speak or write sentences creatively using prior knowledge of phonics, grammar, vocabulary and key features.
  • Understand written and spoken language including from native speakers.
  • Express their ideas speaking with confidence and intonation.
  • Show curiosity about the world and cultures with a desire to be lifelong language learners.

Implementation

  • Teaching based on the Language Angels Scheme of work, which is progressive and develops pupils’ skills in vocabulary, language skills, and grammatical knowledge organized around topics and themes – building blocks of language into more complex and fluent and authentic language.
  • Progressive units with lessons that build on the language and knowledge taught in previous lessons.
  • Planning learning sequences which are closely matched to selected vocabulary that will be taught within each topic area so that vocabulary can be built upon meaningfully and retained in long-term memory.
  • We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a
    clear skills and knowledge progression framework using a scheme of work.

The National Curriculum for languages aims to ensure all pupils:

  • Understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
  • Speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking
  • Question, and 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.

The MFL curriculum is taught to all key stage 2 children weekly.

  • To promote an active learning of Spanish, a range of teaching methods are used to ensure that the children are developing their linguistic skills through listening, speaking, reading and writing in order to be secondary ready.
  • Children are taught a strong awareness of phonology and the importance of grammatical structures so that knowledge gained can be applied to different contexts and topics in Spanish.
  • Children in EYFS and KS1 are not currently taught a specific language but we recognise how important it is for our youngest children to learn about different cultures, religions and beliefs.
  • We still have a access to Language Angels for EYFS and KS1 so that any Spanish wishing to be taught can be accessed whilst maintaining consistency across school and fidelity to the Language Angels programme.
  • Children in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 are taught to have a growing awareness of the world around them by following our PSHE curriculum to support and develop cultural capital.

Impact

  • Learning and progression is assessed at regular intervals after each topic or theme and is recorded on the Language Angels online platform.
  • Through the high quality first teaching of Spanish, evidence from the children’s folders, assessment, learning walks, pupil voice, display and lessons will show the impact of the subject in the following ways:
  • 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
  • Children will transfer to KS3 effectively and successfully and will be well prepared to continue and develop their language skills

Language Angels Progression Map across the 4 domains of language learning

Language Angels Skills Progression Map across the Primary Phase