At St Gregory'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:

• listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and responding
• explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the spelling, sound and meaning of words
• engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to those of others; seek clarification and help
• speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
• appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
• broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
• write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas clearly
• describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing  
• understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English.  

Our Spanish Lessons

We employ a professional Spanish teacher to teach Spanish in Key Stage Two each week. Miss Lambert works with children in Years 4 to 6 every Wednesday morning.

These lessons include a variety of techniques to encourage the children to have an active engagement, including games, role-play, action songs and LOTS of speaking and listening!

Lessons are carefully planned and differentiated to allow for progression in children's understanding from Year 4 to Year 6. 

The lessons are fun and engaging, with a key focus on speaking and listening, and covering a range of spoken and written work in Spanish. 

We emphasise listening, responding and speaking skills with the addition of simple reading and writing skills.

Ultimately, we want our to children develop a positive attitude to the learning of Modern Foreign Languages.  We build the children’s confidence through praise for any contribution they make, however tentative.

Working With a Spanish School

We have recently 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.

Our Spanish Teacher, Miss Lambert, has links with a school in Spain. She arranged for our Year 6 children to make Christmas cards, celebrating Britain and our local area of The Lake District, to send to the children in Spain.

They were delighted to receive our Christmas Cards and messages and have replied with cards and messages of their own!