Modern Foreign Language: Spanish

Vision Statement:

At Washingwell we are keen to promote the study of one foreign language in depth (Spanish), and to develop interest and a positive attitude to foreign languages in general. Learning languages contributes to mutual understanding, a sense of global citizenship and personal fulfilment. Children learn to appreciate different countries, cultures, communities and people. We are conscious that the ability to understand and communicate in another language is a lifelong skill for education, employment and leisure in this country and throughout the world.

Our school bases the core work in Spanish around the National Curriculum which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
• can write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures they have learnt
• discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied

What does Spanish offer children? How does it enhance the curriculum?

• Learning Spanish fosters children’s curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world.
• It enables children to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in another language.
• Gives the children confidence in interacting with others.
• Foreign language learning enhances listening skills and memory.
• The learning of another language improves the knowledge of their own language – English vocabulary skills increase.

What use is it to children in later life? 

• Awakens an interest in foreign cultures and life-styles.
• International travel is made easier and more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.
• Being able to learn, speak and understand another language gives you a better perspective on others.
• Speaking another language enhances job opportunities in government, business, medicine, law, industry, marketing and the military.