PLEASE NOTE: We are currently refreshing our Modern Foreign Languages Curriculum, through the introduction of a new scheme of work.
This is being introduced from the second half of the Spring Term, into the Summer Term of 2024.
New topics have been carefully selected to ensure continuity and progression with our existing scheme, and avoid any repetition or omission in the required elements of the curriculum.
The full scheme will be in place from the start of the new academic year 2024-2025, and all plans and supporting information will be updated below, accordingly.
Our Spanish Lessons
At Our Lady & St Patrick's, children in Key Stage Two learn to speak Spanish, through dedicated weekly Spanish lessons.
These lessons include a variety of techniques to encourage the children to enjoy an active engagement with the new language, including games, role-play, action songs and LOTS of speaking and listening!
We prioritise teaching children to accurately pronounce the sounds of the Spanish language, giving them the phonics skills required to enable them to decode new words they encounter.
Lessons are carefully planned and differentiated to allow for progression in children's understanding from Year 4 to Year 6. Our Spanish lessons are fun and engaging, with a key focus on speaking and listening, and covering a range of spoken and written work in Spanish.
During lessons, and in our planning, we aim to develop listening, responding and speaking skills, supported by the acquisition of reading and writing skills.
Ultimately, we want our to children develop positive attitudes to other languages and, thereby, to other cultures and countries, as they grow and discover more about the wider world. An understanding of other languages is a key skill - for life!
Three Pillars of Language Learning
The document below highlights how we cater for the three pillars of learning, ensuring substantial progress in the foreign language by the end of primary phase.
The three pillars of language being:
• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
As there are no prescribed lists or recommendations in the PoS attainment targets on which phonemes, vocabulary or grammar structures to cover, our teaching programme 'Language Angels' has devised their own, which are built into all lessons, units and teaching types. This is to ensure substantial progress and build solid foundations in language learning before leaving the primary phase.
'Language Angels' Programme
At OLASP, we use the 'Language Angels' planning and resources.
Through this programme, we ensure the following key ingredients in our Spanish lessons:
Planning & Progression in Spanish
Spanish Planning Overview:
Progression of Skills in Languages
National Curriculum - End of Year Expectations
National Curriculum Programme of Study - Languages
Achievements & Events
European Languages Day 2023
Every year, we celebrate 'European Day of Languages' in school. This is always a fun and educational day in school, which the children really enjoy.
This year, on 25th September 2023, our children had lots of fun learning about the languages and cultures of a range of European countries:
Early Years - Poland
Year 1 & Year 2 - France
Year 3 - Greece
Year 4 - Italy
Year 5 & Year 6 - Spain
'International School Award' 2021-2022
Celebrating El Dia de los Reyes - ‘The Day of The Kings’ - Jan 2022
On the evening of January 5th every year, Spanish towns and cities are given over to the colourful parades of the Dia de los Reyes, or the Kings' Day – a celebration of the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem after Jesus' birth.
For many families, Three Kings Day is as big a celebration as Christmas Day. It's customary to gather with friends and family to celebrate, often by opening gifts, playing music, and sharing a large meal together.
Working with a Spanish School
We have established a link with a primary school in Spain, which has given our children a real purpose for their new language skills, and is further enhancing their intercultural awareness and understanding.
For the last two years, our Spansih Teacher worked with our Year 6 children to make Christmas cards, celebrating Britain and our local area of The Lake District, to send to children in Spain.
This year, every class made Christmas cards with a British theme, and some children also made traditional, handmade gifts at home, to send to our friends in Spain!
The Spanish children were delighted to receive our Christmas Cards, gifts and messages and have replied with lovely cards and messages of their own!
The whole school made Christmas cards and gifts to send to our friends in Spain!
Vision Statement - Modern Foreign Languages
At Our Lady & St Patrick's, we believe that the learning of a foreign language provides a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for pupils.
Pupils develop communication and literacy skills that lay the foundation for future language learning. They develop linguistic competence, extend their knowledge of how language works and explore differences and similarities between the foreign language (Spanish, in our case) and English.
Learning another language raises awareness of our multi-lingual and multi-cultural world and introduces an international dimension to pupils’ learning, giving them an insight into their own culture and that of others.
The learning of a foreign language provides a medium for cross-curricular links and for reinforcement of knowledge, skills and understanding developed in other subjects.
We will teach children to:
Attainment & Assessment
We use the ‘Framework for Languages’ as a tool for assessment, assessing the different strands of language learning on a termly basis.
We use the following documents (published above) to inform our assessment of children's learning in Spanish: