Modern Foreign Languages
At Holy Name, we celebrate our diverse community and enjoy sharing and celebrating a multitude of home languages with our children in the EYFS and Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, our Modern Foreign Languages curriculum is delivered through teaching the children Spanish to meet the unique context of our school in taking our Year 6 children on our annual trip to Spain. As a Roman Catholic school, we have chosen Spanish because Spain is a Catholic country and the scheme of work we follow incorporates learning about Christian festivals, including Easter and Christmas. A high percentage of our children have English as an Additional Language and we recognise that being able to speak more than one language is an advantage so our whole-school approach helps all children to develop an understanding of how languages work. We also have a small proportion of Spanish-speaking students currently on-roll.
Intent
At Holy Name, we celebrate our diverse community and enjoy sharing and celebrating a multitude of home languages with our children in the EYFS and Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, our Modern Foreign Languages curriculum is delivered through teaching the children Spanish to meet the unique context of our school in taking our Year 6 children on our annual trip to Spain. As a Roman Catholic school, we have chosen Spanish because Spain is a Catholic country and the scheme of work we follow incorporates learning about Christian festivals, including Easter and Christmas. A high percentage of our children have English as an Additional Language and we recognise that being able to speak more than one language is an advantage so our whole-school approach helps all children to develop an understanding of how languages work. We also have a small proportion of Spanish-speaking students currently on-roll
Holy Name’s Primary Spanish scheme of work aims to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in Spanish for practical purposes, using both written and spoken Spanish. Through our scheme of work, we aim to give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to other languages, facilitates further language study and opens future opportunities to study and work abroad. Holy Name’s Primary’s Spanish scheme of work supports pupils to meet the National curriculum end of Key stage 2 attainment targets (there are no Key stage 1 attainment targets for languages). The Holy Name Primary Spanish curriculum aims to provide pupils with a firm foundation of language learning. For this reason, we have carefully planned and sequenced when to teach the three building blocks of a language system, known as our Primary knowledge strands:
- Phonics.
- Vocabulary.
- Grammar. Pupils connect these building blocks of knowledge to create meaning in a variety of contexts, allowing them to develop their skills in the following strands:
- Language comprehension: listening and reading
- Language production: speaking and writing Ample opportunities are provided to ensure that children practise new learning across all four modalities.
Our National curriculum coverage shows which of our units cover each of the National curriculum attainment targets as well as each of the strands. Our Progression of knowledge, skills and vocabulary shows the knowledge, skills and progressive vocabulary that are taught within each year group and how these develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of Key stage 2.
Implementation
Through Holy Name’s Primary’s Spanish scheme, pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. The scheme provides balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written Spanish. Pupils first develop confidence and accuracy with oral skills then increasingly apply their knowledge to extended reading and writing as they progress through Key stage 2. The Spanish scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key skills, grammar and vocabulary revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Cross-curricular links are included throughout our Spanish units, allowing children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of their learning.
Lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from independent tasks, paired and group work including role-play, language games and language detective work. Our scheme of work focuses on developing what we term ‘language detective skills’ and developing an understanding of Spanish grammar, rather than committing to memory vast amounts of Spanish vocabulary. Each unit is based on a specific theme with a motivating end outcome which gives the children a context and clear purpose for their learning. Guidance for adapting the learning is available for every lesson to ensure that lessons can be accessed and enjoyed by all.
To help pupils retain their Spanish learning, we provide information on incorporating Spanish into the classroom environment every day in our ‘During the week’ sections. Holy Name’s Primary’s Spanish scheme has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the full language curriculum and every effort has been made to ensure they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to be able to deliver a highly effective language curriculum. Accordingly, each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support ongoing CPD. Lessons include sections to explain key grammar and language points to the teacher before the lesson, together with key vocabulary and a pronunciation sound guide. Lesson presentations include sound files, supporting teachers who are less confident with their own pronunciation to deliver the lesson and support the children's learning. In addition, there is also a comprehensive series of phoneme videos to build teachers’ and pupils’ speaking confidence. Implementation The implementation of the curriculum relates to how the learning is going to be delivered across your school, taking the intent of the learning and translating it into a progressive and effective curriculum. When using a scheme, such as Kapow Primary, the majority of this aspect is taken care of.
Impact
The impact of Holy Name’s Primary’s Spanish scheme can be monitored continuously through both formative and summative assessment. Pupils frequently evaluate their own and their peers’ performance, respond to feedback and recognise their own progress. Every unit has a unit quiz and knowledge catcher which can be used at the start and/or end of the unit. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives
After the implementation of Holy Name’s Primary Spanish, pupils should leave school equipped with a range of language-learning skills to enable them to study Spanish, or any other language, with confidence at Key stage 3. The expected impact of following the Holy Name Primary Spanish scheme of work, is that children will:
- Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g. ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.
- Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases and short texts.
- Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.
- Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.
- Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.
- Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.
- Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them, and other language detective skills, to tackle unfamiliar words in Spanish, English and other languages.
- Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.
- Meet the end of Key stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the national curriculum for languages. ● Develop a greater awareness of the wider world and an appreciation for the role of language learning in promoting cross-cultural understand.
However, the real assessment takes places when our Year 6 visit Spain and try out their learning beyond the confines of the classroom and take it in the real world. This is an exciting and unique experience which celebrates and culminates all of the children’s knowledge and understanding of Spanish and places it into a context which should instil a love of languages for life.