Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.
It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:
(National Curriculum 2013)
Learning a foreign language is part of the Primary National Curriculum and is a requirement for all children within Key Stage Two (KS2). Sycamore Academy has adopted a whole school approach to the teaching of Spanish to all KS2 pupils. It is intended that when children leave Sycamore Academy, they will have a natural curiosity and confidence to explore other countries, cultures and languages, accepting that, in a multi-lingual society, it is a valuable skill to be able to communicate effectively with others in another language.
At Sycamore Academy, we intend to offer a relevant, broad, vibrant and ambitious foreign languages curriculum that will inspire and excite our pupils using a wide variety of topics and themes. All pupils will be expected to achieve their full potential by encouraging high expectations and excellent standards in their foreign language learning.
We will help them develop and demonstrate substantial progress in the 5 key language skills necessary for learning Spanish:
We aim to ensure that pupils of all abilities develop solid foundations in these key language learning skills – properly preparing them for the next stage of their language learning journey. These skills will develop children’s ability to understand what they hear and read and enable them to express themselves in speech and writing. We will extend their knowledge of how language works and explore the similarities and differences between the foreign language they are learning and English. We will also help strengthen their sense of identity through learning about culture in other countries and comparing it with their own.
At Sycamore Academy, teachers plan their Spanish lessons with the support of the Language Angels scheme of work. Each lesson focuses on a combination of the 5 key language learning skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar). The lessons are designed to motivate, captivate and interest children from the first moment. They have clear, achievable objectives and incorporate different learning styles. SEN children have access to the curriculum through variation of task, grouping or support from an adult.
Lessons are sequenced so that prior learning is considered and opportunities for revision of language and grammatical concepts are built into lessons. Lessons help children to build on prior knowledge alongside the introduction of new skills.
Our Spanish curriculum will ensure 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 Sycamore Academy in Year 6 we want them to be able to speak, read and write in Spanish to an age-appropriate level.
