%20DANEGROVE%20CAPS.svg){kind=spacer}
Spanish at Danegrove
“Learning a language enriches the curriculum. It provides excitement, enjoyment and challenge for children and teachers, helping to create enthusiastic learners and to develop positive attitudes to language learning throughout life. The natural links between languages and other areas of the curriculum can enhance the overall teaching and learning experience. The skills, knowledge and understanding gained can make a major contribution to the development of children’s oracy and literacy and to their understanding of their own culture/s and those of others.”
The Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages (DfES 2005)
Learning another language gives children a new perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others. Danegrove Primary School provides age-appropriate Primary Languages learning opportunities for all children throughout the school. The focus language taught in our school is Spanish from Foundation Class to Year 6 and the Scheme of work indicates the units/areas taught throughout the school, although the Government’s statutory requirement only refers to Key Stage 2.
The aims of Primary Languages teaching at Danegrove Primary School are:
To foster an interest in language learning by introducing children to other languages in a way that is enjoyable and accessible to all pupils
Stimulate and encourage children’s curiosity about language and creativity in experimenting with it
Support oracy and literacy, and in particular develop speaking and listening skills
Help children develop their awareness of cultural similarities and differences
Has clear progression in subject knowledge and skills
Lay the foundations for future language study by pupils
Provide an added perspective on first language teaching and learning
Give an extra dimension to teaching and learning across the curriculum
Speaking and Listening
The aims of Primary Languages teaching at Danegrove Primary School are:
Listen carefully and recognise sounds and combinations of sounds which are similar to, or different from, those of English
Understand and respond with increasing competence, accuracy and confidence in a range of situations
Join in songs, rhymes, raps and stories which enable them to practise the sounds of the language in an enjoyable and non-threatening way
Take part in conversations at an appropriate level, reacting to instructions and questions and expressing opinions and feelings
Memorise and recite short texts, and prepare and give a talk on a familiar subject confidently and with regard for the audience.
Reading & Writing
The children will learn to:
Remember grapheme-phoneme correspondences and vocabulary directly taught and reinforced through word games and similar activities
Read stories and rhymes for enjoyment and to gain awareness of the structure of the written language
Read, copy and write independently familiar words and simple phrases in context e.g. classroom items, display labels, weather chart, date
Write sentences and short texts independently and from memory
Intercultural understanding
The children will learn to:
Describe the life of children in the countries where the language is spoken
Identify similarities and differences in everyday life, social conventions, traditional stories and celebrations
Recognise how symbols, products and objects can represent the culture of a country, and how aspects of the culture of different countries become incorporated in the daily life of others
Recognise and mistrust stereotypes, and understand and respect cultural diversity
Teaching & Learning
At Danegrove Primary School we integrate language learning into everyday school life, with teachers, teaching assistants and children using and experimenting with their knowledge of different languages whenever the opportunity arises. We foster a problem-solving approach, giving children opportunities to work out language use for themselves in a supportive context where risk-taking and creativity are encouraged, and there is an emphasis on having fun with the new language. ICT is used where appropriate to enhance teaching and learning.
