‘Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.' Rita Mae Brown 

At Parkgate Primary School, we aim for a high-quality Language curriculum to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the world and its languages.

The Modern Foreign Languages scheme of work (developed in conjunction with the Languages Hub in Coventry) aims to instil a love of language learning and an awareness of other cultures. We want pupils to develop the confidence to communicate in Spanish for practical purposes, using both written and spoken Spanish. Through our scheme of work, we aim to give pupils a foundation for language learning that encourages and enables them to apply their skills to learning further languages, developing a strong understanding of the English language, facilitating future study and opening opportunities to study and work in other countries in the future. The Modern Foreign Languages scheme of work supports pupils to meet the National curriculum end of Key stage 2 attainment targets (there are no Key stage 1 attainment targets for Languages). Where required, pedagogy is adapted so that all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, and those with SEND are on the same knowledge journey towards the same endpoints. 

The Spanish scheme of work has been designed with three knowledge strands that run throughout our units with knowledge building cumulatively.

These are:

● Phonics

● Vocabulary

● Grammar

This knowledge can then be applied within our skills strands, which also run throughout each unit in the scheme:

● Language comprehension (Listening and reading)

● Language production (Speaking and writing)

Pupils are given opportunities to communicate for practical purposes around familiar subjects and routines. The lessons provide balanced opportunities for communication in both spoken and written Spanish, although in Year 3 the focus is on developing oral skills, before incorporating written Spanish in Year 4 and beyond. The scheme is a spiral curriculum, with key skills and vocabulary revisited repeatedly with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. Cross-curricular links are included throughout our Spanish units, allowing children to make connections and apply their language skills to other areas of their learning.

Strong subject knowledge is vital for any staff member to be able to deliver a highly effective languages curriculum. To ensure this, we are fortunate to have a dedicated teacher to facilitate Spanish lessons across our school.

The expected impact of following the Spanish scheme of work is that children will:

➔ Be able to engage in purposeful dialogue in practical situations (e.g., ordering in a cafe, following directions) and express an opinion.

➔ Make increasingly accurate attempts to read unfamiliar words, phrases, and short texts.

➔ Speak and read aloud with confidence and accuracy in pronunciation.

➔ Demonstrate understanding of spoken language by listening and responding appropriately.

➔ Use a bilingual dictionary to support their language learning.

➔ Be able to identify word classes in a sentence and apply grammatical rules they have learnt.

➔ Have developed an awareness of cognates and near-cognates and be able to use them to tackle unfamiliar words in French, English, and other languages.

➔ Be able to construct short texts on familiar topics.

➔ Meet the end of Key Stage 2 stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Languages.

Our pupils represent an urban area of Coventry and this is reflected through an inclusive, diverse curriculum which is supported through additional extracurricular focus events such as working with secondary school colleagues and local universities to participate in language days.

The scheme of work has been developed to allow focussed and engaging lessons which help to raise standards and allow all children to achieve to their full potential. This includes children of all abilities, social and cultural backgrounds, those with disabilities, EAL speakers and SEND statements and non-statemented.