Spanish

¡Hola y bienvenidos a las páginas web de español!

Me llamo Señorita Laws y soy la profesora de español de Churchfields Primary School.

At Churchfields, your child will be learning Spanish once a week from Year 3. We will cover a wide variety of topics, introduced through exciting and though provoking activities to ensure your child is engaged, learning and enjoying themselves. The culture context shines through in every lesson, stimulating their curiosity.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on spanish@churchfields.q1e.org.uk if you have any concerns or questions.

Thank you for your support.

Señorita Laws

We are learning

Autumn Term

Acer:

First half term: Continuing the theme Parts of my face we will introduce, Picasso's Face paintings. Children will be encouraged to describe them thereby bring together shapes and faces. Children will structuring sentences by using the verb to see a face part noun together with the appropriate article followed by an adjective. Exaple: Veo una nariz fina. I see a thin nose. Leading to a description and drawing of themselves.

Second half term: Mi familia. Children will extend their learning to describing family members thereby using the third person of the verb “tener” (to have). Culminating in a mini – book of their family and friends. Children will present their work in class.

Year 3

First half term: Introduction of food. Children will learn new vocabulary through the medium of “The hungry caterpillar”. Likes and dislikes. Phonic work reminders laced into every lesson.

Second half term: Children build confidence in all four skills. Structuring short sentences using food vocabulary, articles a regular verbs such as eat and drink in the first and third person as well as likes and dislikes. Culminating in writing their own version of the hungry caterpillar in Spanish.

Year 4

First half term: Continuing the theme Parts of my face we will introduce, Picasso's Face paintings. Children will be encouraged to describe them thereby bring together shapes and faces. Children will structuring sentences by using the verb to see a face part noun together with the appropriate article followed by an adjective. Exaple: Veo una nariz fina. I see a thin nose. Leading to a description and drawing of themselves.

Second half term: Mi familia. Children will extend their learning to describing family members thereby using the third person of the verb “tener” (to have). Culminating in a mini – book of their family and friends. Children will present their work in class.

Year 5

First half term: The topic this half term is The Environment, new vocabulary will be introduced together with new regular verbs to continue conjugating these to facilitate sentence structure.

Second Half term: Music, is the theme this half term. Recap of likes and dislikes together with expressing opinion “en mi opinión” and “Pienso que” (I think that). Children will listen to different types of music and express their opinion.

Year 6

First half term:

Continuing the theme of My Town, children will learning how to ask and reply to questions about their town. This will lead to describing their class and school, further extending the list of regular verbs they are able to conjugate. We will hold discussions on likes and dislikes in order to ensure children are comfortable with the vocabulary. Children will structure their own sentences in which they describe their school and favourite subjects, in preparation for Yr7. Finally, children will create a prospectus for what to expect when coming to Churchfields.

Second Half term: What I wear, this topic will allow children to add to the list of regular verbs they are able to conjugate. We will recycle vocabulary from previous years and add to it. Children will describe what items they like, describe them as well using third person to describe others. This topic will culminate in a fashion show where children can show off their skills by describing each other on the runway.

What we want the curriculum to achieve

At Churchfields, our children are able to communicate in Spanish at varying degrees of complexity. Through a vehicle of meaningful topics, children gain a strong knowledge of frequently used vocabulary, grammar and phonetics. Topics are carefully chosen and underpin daily routine situations which promote the use of high frequency vocabulary and therefore spontaneous communication. As a result, children at Churchfields benefit from a smooth transition to learning a foreign language in Secondary School.

How does the subject fit into the whole school curriculum offer?

Spanish fits into the whole school offer, seamlessly. Phonetics and grammar are an integral part to both Spanish and the whole curriculum and are addressed in depth. Numbers, maths and currency also form part of our lessons which facilitates an unrehearsed use of the target language. Topics are introduced on a number of subjects which include Spanish culture, traditions history and geography. Children are encouraged to work individually and as part of a team using their environment to help inform their learning and link to the whole school curriculum.

What is special about our curriculum?

Our expectations of the Spanish Curriculum are both high and attainable. Children are encouraged to have and maintain a strong range of vocabulary by knowing how to pronounce a word, its origins, patterns and shared roots or endings. They know what a cognate and a false friend are and are encouraged to celebrate noticing them.

Children’s vocabulary builds gradually and is retained by continuous reinforcement. Verb lexicon is also essential and a strong understanding of the infinitive and its conjugations also plays an important role in our teaching, which will help them manipulate and structure their own sentences. The use of the Target language in the classroom is also imperative, since its content is mostly high frequency words and is unrehearsed.

Children enjoy discussing cultural differences between English and Spanish traditions which in turn ignites very interesting discussions. Our Year 5 children visit a local tapas restaurant for an authentic meal and are taught how to order in Spanish.

Churchfields is especially proud of its “Spanish Pop” lunchtime group, in which we enjoy learning Spanish songs and singing them with wonderful Spanish accents!

What is the structure of teaching and learning?

Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 have a weekly one hour lesson. At this initial stage of learning a new language, vocabulary, phonetics and grammar will be introduced in a carefully planned manner. Vocabulary will always include cognates and frequently occurring words to help scaffold and build children’s confidence in their ability. In order for the new information to be stored to long term memory, practise reinforcement and use are paramount. All four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) benefit from this approach.

What will children achieve by the end of Key Stage 2?

Children will have built a figurative memory file which will include 500 words and an understanding of gender agreement. They learn the ability to conjugate regular verbs which will empower them to structure their own sentences. Children develop an appreciation of other cultures and customs and demonstrate the confidence that they will have the tools to enable them to learn any language at Secondary School and in the future.

Spanish Curriculum