At Noak Bridge Primary School, we feel that the earlier a child is exposed to a foreign language, the faster the language in question is acquired. We believe that the early acquisition of Spanish will facilitate the learning of other foreign languages later in life. We aim to prepare children for the KS3 language curriculum to enable them to transfer confidently and successfully.

We teach Spanish across Key Stage 2 from Year 3 to 6. The school uses the Twinkl scheme of work to support the teaching and learning of Spanish. This provides clear progression for the development of speaking and listening, vocabulary acquisition and key understanding of phonics and grammar. The scheme is taught via a topic approach which changes each half term, however key vocabulary/grammar is revisited regularly.

It is taught for 45 minutes in each class per week. In the Summer term of each year, the school holds a ‘Spanish Day’ in which the children explore Spanish culture and take part in a variety of activities linked to MFL and other curriculum areas.

We use a variety of the following techniques to encourage children to have an active engagement with Spanish:

• Games – to develop vocabulary through repetition, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

• Role-play – these should relate to the situations the children may find themselves in the future.

• Action songs and rhymes – to develop phonetic skills, memory skills and to further vocabulary.

• Reading and writing quality materials.

• We build children’s confidence through praise for any contribution they make in the foreign language, however tentative.