Spanish Curriculum intent, implementation and impact statement

Intent

The Department for Education (DfE) published statutory guidance on the National Curriculum in England for Key Stage (KS) 1 to KS4. It states that languages are not a compulsory subject in schools at KS1. The National Curriculum document states that foreign languages are a compulsory subject at KS2. Teaching may be of any modern or ancient foreign language and should "lay the foundations" for foreign language learning at KS3. The 2013 National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages aims to ensure that all children:

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

At St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School, Spanish is taught by Senorita Montavez, from Year 3 to Year 6. Senorita also takes Spanish Club for Years 1 and 2.

Our main objectives in the teaching of Spanish are to promote the development of linguistic competence and confidence in speaking and writing as well as an understanding and awareness of the world and other cultures.

Implementation

Children in Years 1 and 2 are given the opportunity to attend a Spanish After School Club. This acts as an introduction to basic language skills, with activities including songs, rhymes and games.

In KS2, each class has a timetabled Spanish lesson of 30 minutes. Lessons across the Key Stage support the skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing:

• Children are taught to listen attentively to spoken language and respond, joining in with songs, rhymes and games.
• Children develop an appreciation of a variety of stories, songs, poems and rhymes in Spanish that are delivered through the curriculum content.
• We follow the planning and guidance laid our in the National Curriculum and have tailored our own scheme of work to meet the guidance.

Impact

Our MFL curriculum ensures that children develop their knowledge of where different languages are spoken in the world. Varied learning experiences, including ‘Multicultural Week’ and ‘Spanish Day’ also ensure that languages are celebrated throughout the school community whilst providing a context for language learning and develop the children’s understanding of different cultures.