Spanish

Subject vision

We want the children at Goose Green to foster the enthusiasm and enjoyment of learning a new language.

Children have the opportunity to understand Spanish language and Hispanic culture, as well as to develop an international outlook in a fun and inclusive learning setting. Learning Spanish helps our children to develop communication skills and extends their knowledge of how language works, helping them to develop their grammar skills, and preparing them for the challenges of the secondary school curriculum.

Spanish is intended as a gateway to cultivate children’s attention to study a foreign language and develop their interest in the culture of other nations.

How do children learn Spanish at Goose Green?

Spanish is taught by a specialist native teacher, Eva Rodriguez-Moya, and the curriculum has been designed to fulfil the National Curriculum attainment targets for Languages.

In EYFS and KS1, the children explore the languages of our community through songs, games and stories which promote an understanding of some of the differences in our world. Our children begin their journey in learning Spanish from Year 2 onwards. 

Our curriculum has been carefully sequenced to encourage children’s understanding and knowledge of the Spanish language to deepen and progress over time. Inclusion is a big part of the learning spirit behind the lessons, both introducing the Spanish language and culture to non-Spanish speakers, while reinforcing and building the skills of those with a pre-existing knowledge of the language.

The curriculum is designed to progressively develop children’s skills in languages, through weekly taught lessons.

Learning objectives comprise the full spectrum of Spanish, with Oracy, Literacy and Intercultural Understanding. This results in a holistic approach to the target language, with distinct emphasis on the Oracy component (i.e. listening, speaking and spoken interaction). Our focus on Oracy serves as an effective introduction to language and culture through listening, speaking and interacting orally to songs and rhymes, to each other and to native speakers, as well as recorded and online speech and songs.

Phonics is extremely important in the curriculum and learning the sounds of the alphabet in Spanish is one of the most important things we can do to give our children a strong foundation for learning to read and write. Children also progressively acquire, use and apply a growing bank of vocabulary and grammar organised around topics.

Our curriculum covers:

In Year 3 - Learning basic greetings and talking about feelings. Counting to 31 and making simple calculations. Singing and dancing songs about colours, body parts and simple instructions.

In Year 4 - Learning the alphabet and the sound of the letters, focusing on phonics, in order to have a strong foundation for learning to read and write in Spanish. Saying the date and describing colours, size and shapes. Counting to 100.

In Year 5 - Talking about the weather and making weekly forecasts using connectives and opinions.  Learning about school: objects, equipment and subjects. Give opinions and use adjectives to describe things. 

In Year 6 - Describing personal appearances, family and pets. Having simple conversations, reading simple texts and writing short paragraphs. Developing an understanding of Spanish verbs and adjectives.

How do we know what children have learned?

• Questioning
• Pupil Learning Reviews
• Learning walks
• Quizzing and retrieval practice
• Feedback and marking
• Progress in books matches the curriculum intent