Rode Heath Primary SchoolForeign Languages
Intent
At Rode Heath Primary School, we believe that a high-quality modern languages education should ignite pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. It is now widely recognised that the early teaching of a modern language has a positive impact on improving literacy, building self-confidence and widening cultural horizons. The teaching should enable pupils to express ideas and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. There should be opportunities to listen, copy and respond to native speakers, as well as have access to engaging literature in the target language.
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that 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 through discussion and asking questions, 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.
- Discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
Implementation
In KS2, each class has a timetabled Spanish lesson for 40 minutes a week for two terms of the year. The Scheme of Work ensures that lessons provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and that lessons build on prior learning.
The two underlying principles of the Scheme of Work are that:
- Children should enjoy their early years of learning Spanish and value the sights and sounds of Spain, the rhythm of the language and gain pleasure from accessing and understanding the written word.
- Children should make real and measurable progress through fun and practical activities, challenging tasks and the desire to understand more as they listen to, speak and read Spanish.
Impact
Rode Heath pupils will set off on a language learning journey, which will prepare them for whichever modern foreign language they choose to study at KS3, as well as equip them to study and work in other countries.
They will learn to:
- Appreciate traditional Spanish songs, rhymes, poems and stories.
- Explore the patterns and sounds of language and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.
- Present ideas and information orally and in writing.
- Engage in conversations, ask and answer questions and express opinions.
- Demonstrate understanding of, and respect for, cultural diversity.
- Develop a love of languages and learning about other cultures.
Below are some interactive websites the children can visit at home to have fun with Spanish whilst learning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryspanish/
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2spanish.html