Intent

It is our intent at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School to provide all of our children with a high quality education in Foreign Languages (FL), which develops their love of learning about other languages and cultures and helps provide them with an understanding of the world. We aim to build the children’s ‘cultural capital’ so that they have a knowledge and understanding of the richness and diversity between cultures.

Pupils at St Francis of Assisi will be expected to achieve their full potential in their foreign language learning (Spanish) - the ultimate aim is that pupils will feel confident engaging in spoken Spanish, develop skills in reading, listening and writing, and know how important languages will be in their future. We hope that all pupils will develop a genuine interest and curiosity about languages, finding them enjoyable and exciting and show a desire to continue their language learning past KS2.

Language teaching is important at St Francis of Assisi Primary School due to so many different languages being spoken by our children. We believe that learning another language gives children a new and broader perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others, which feeds into our whole school values of respect where many religions and cultures are represented.

 

Implementation

Children develop their love of language learning and develop skills throughout their time from Key Stage One and then into Key Stage two at St Francis of Assisi.

The scheme of work which we adapt to suit our children’s needs is ‘Language Angels.’ The curriculum has a focus on speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, as well as making children aware of grammatical features of the Spanish language. Weekly lessons are taught (30 minutes) ensuring progression by building on previous lessons. At the start of each lesson, teachers recap on prior learning. Previous language will be revised, recalled and consolidated whenever possible and appropriate.

Children will foster a love of Spanish through active participation in lessons. There are a variety of techniques which encourage the children to have an active engagement with Spanish:

• Games – to develop vocabulary through repetition, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
• Roleplay – these should relate to real life situations that children may find themselves in in the future.
• Action songs and rhymes – to develop phonetic and memory skills and to further vocabulary.

SEND and disadvantaged pupils are supported in the language learning through teachers adapting planning and resources to reflect the children’s understanding and varying needs.

 

Impact

Our curriculum ensures that all pupils develop key language learning skills set out by the National Curriculum, as well as a love of languages and learning about other cultures.

By the time our children leave St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School they should be able to:

• Listen attentively to spoken Spanish 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, and 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 Spanish

Throughout their time at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary the children will have taken part in several World Languages Days and will have an appreciation of the vast array of languages spoken around the world.

They will understand that there are several languages spoken by children in our school.

They will know that Spanish is spoken in many countries around the world and will be able to talk about this.

They will be well prepared for MFL teaching in key stage three, whether this is continuing with Spanish or beginning a new language