Spanish 

Why we teach Spanish

•  Around 527 million people can speak Spanish as a 1st or 2nd language

• By 2050 it is reckoned that 10% of world will speak Spanish AND it will be the largest language in the Western Hemisphere

• It is the official language in 21 countries

• It is the 4^th most widely spoken language

• Spanish is Latin based so it’s easier to learn other Latin languages (Portuguese, Romanian, Italian and French)

• Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn. Because Spanish is nearly phonetically perfect, you can look at almost any word and know how to pronounce it.

At Broomwood Primary, we have decided to make the exciting change from teaching French to teaching Spanish. We made this decision based on the needs of our school community. We recognise that lots of our children holiday in Spanish speaking countries, as do our staff. In contrast to French, a considerable number of our staff have a much greater knowledge of the Spanish language meaning they are more confident and excited to teach our children. We know that Spanish will help your children be great life long learners and it will equip them with skills they can keep and use for life. Evidence from exam figures shows there has been a decline in numbers of children taking French and German exams but Spanish has rapidly increased. It is England’s second modern language and on current trends, it looks set to quickly overtake French at A level and GCSE by the early 2020’s. It is for these reasons that we intent to teach Spanish to every child from Reception to Year 6.

We have planned a curriculum with our children at the centre, teaching them the vocabulary they will actually use in real life as well as ensuring they are able to speak, listen, read and write Spanish. From September 2020, all children will begin at the Early language Learning phase because it will be their first experience of Spanish. However, progression across the year groups will be evident after the first initial year of teaching.

Our whole school approach to Spanish teaching and learning is in line with the recommendations of the National Curriculum and the requirements outlined in the Department for Education Languages Programme of Study for Key Stage 2.

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, including 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 authentic writing in the language studied.

By the end of key stage 2, pupils should be able to:

1. Listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding.

2. Explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words.

3. Engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help.

4. Speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures.

5. Develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases.

6. Present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences.

7. Read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing.

8. Appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language.

9. Broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary.

10. Write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly.

11. Describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing.

12. Understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.