Foreign languages
At Upton Heath Church of England Primary School, Spanish is the modern foreign language that we have chosen to teach our children. We have a very diverse number of languages spoken by our pupils at home, from Fijian to Farsi which helps to enrich our children’s experiences and helps them to understand the importance of learning a second language.
At Upton Heath, we use our bespoke ‘Quest Curriculum’ to deliver the majority of our subject learning, and this is also the case with Spanish. One of our Curriculum Quests is dedicated to Spanish, which means that children from Year 1 – 6, all learn Spanish at the same time. Enabling them to speak to friends, siblings and other family members and create a real sense of purpose and engagement with the language.
In order to ensure that children continue to build on their Spanish vocabulary through each year, they will also be introduced to subject-specific Spanish words and phase, linked to other Quests, during the year.
Our MFL curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:
- listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
- explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
- engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help*
- speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
- develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases*
- present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences*
- read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
- appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
- broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
- write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
- describe people, places, things and actions orally* and in writing
- understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, such as (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.