Curriculum Intent – Modern Foreign Language - Spanish

The National Curriculum for England describes the purpose of learning a language as being:

‘Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. 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. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.’

At St Cross the aim of teaching Spanish is to encourage the pupil's curiosity and excitement in their wider global community as well as inspiring a lifelong love of languages. We want to broaden our pupil's understanding of the world and ensure they have a strong cultural awareness that will help them as they grow.

We believe it is important to learn Spanish as it is the second most widely spoken language in the world and the primary language of 20 countries worldwide.

At St Cross, we believe in giving pupils of all ages the opportunities to experience language. Therefore, language learning begins in EYFS and KS1 who follow the ‘Language Angels’ scheme to introduce pupils to a Spanish vocabulary through games and song.

Our Key Stage 2 pupils follow the ‘Language Angels’ scheme of work. As part of our Spanish lessons pupils have the opportunity to listen to Spanish being spoken, as well as joining in and responding in Spanish. They are offered the opportunity to explore the patterns and sounds of the language through songs and rhymes. Pupils are encouraged to participate in simple conversations, asking and answering questions, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and simple writing.  They are encouraged to read carefully and show understanding of words as well as present their own ideas and information orally to adults and peers alike.

We aim to ensure that pupils broaden their Spanish vocabulary and develop an ability to understand new words so they can describe people, places, things and actions both orally and in writing.