Modern Foreign Languages

Our Vision:

At Canon Burrows Primary School, we value the many languages spoken in our school community. We have a strong focus on effective communication throughout our curriculum, which extends to our MFL curriculum.

Our approach to teaching Spanish is underpinned by an understanding that learning one language opens the doors to learning others. By learning languages, we encourage children to broaden their horizons and appreciate the fact that they are global citizens. 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.

We seek to empower our children for their future where living, working or travelling abroad may require the confidence and skill to communicate in another language.

Our goals are that pupils will learn to:

• 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, 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

How we plan for and teach Spanish at Canon Burrows:

MFL in our school is taught in accordance with the National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages. Pupils begin learning Spanish in year 3 and all pupils in Key Stage Two enjoy a weekly Spanish lesson lasting a mimimum of 30 minutes. Our teachers are supported by a Primary Languages Network teacher and follow the PLN scheme of work.

During each Spanish lesson, our children practice four key skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. They also make meaningful links to grammar and the similarities and differences between English and Spanish sentence structures.

Spanish lessons are very popular at Canon Burrows – our children hugely enjoy learning memorable songs and rhymes. By the end of Key Stage Two, our children relish the chance to have conversations in another language, based on their learning in class.

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