Spanish

At Heathland, we believe that learning a language enriches a learner by exposing them to different cultures and other ways of thinking. We value the diversity in the languages already spoken in our school community, and aim to build on this by introducing Spanish into the curriculum from Reception. The skills, knowledge and understanding gained from intentionally learning another language will contribute to the development of a child’s speaking skills and literacy. For all children, the acquisition of a new language enables them to expand their understanding of the wider world.

Learning a Language

We teach children how to communicate in Spanish by providing them with a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures that they need to express themselves in both written and spoken Spanish. We also aim to prepare children for the Key Stage 3 language curriculum to enable them to transfer to secondary school confidently and successfully.

We teach Spanish from Reception to Year 6. The school has developed its own scheme of work to embed the teaching and learning of Spanish. This provides clear progression for the development of the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in the different year groups. In Reception and Key Stage 1, the children learn relevant vocabulary through songs and games and acquire basic grammatical structures. In Key Stage 2, the children expand their range of vocabulary and focus on reading and writing.

Some of the strategies used to teach a new language include:

Games – through repetition, children develop their listening skills, as well and their speaking, reading and writing

Role play – children are able to act out every day situations

Action songs and rhymes – these help to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and increase vocabulary

Writing activities – to develop word recognition and grammatical structures

Technology – websites and videos are used to embed vocabulary and grammar

We aim for children to be able to use simple structures to communicate in Spanish, with a focus on speaking, listening, reading and writing. Pupil’s become aware that different languages have different structures and their learning is enriched through an understanding of Spanish and Latin American cultures.