Intent

At St Cuthbert Mayne Catholic Primary School, our aim is to foster a love of language learning and develop children’s curiosity about languages, cultures and the wider world.

Through our use of Kapow Primary Spanish, we want children to develop the confidence to understand and communicate in Spanish for practical purposes, using both spoken and written language. We aim to provide children with strong foundations in language learning that will support their transition to secondary school and encourage an enthusiasm for learning other languages in the future.

Learning Spanish also provides valuable opportunities for children to discover and appreciate cultures beyond their own. This supports our Catholic ethos by encouraging children to recognise the richness and diversity of the wider world and to approach others with respect, curiosity and understanding.

We want every child to participate confidently in language learning, experience success and recognise that learning another language helps us to communicate, connect with others and broaden our understanding of the world.

Implementation

Spanish is taught progressively through the Kapow Primary Spanish scheme of work, with the curriculum carefully structured to develop children's knowledge, confidence and independence as language learners.

The curriculum is built upon three important knowledge strands:

• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Grammar

Children learn to connect these building blocks so that they can understand and communicate meaning through:

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

Through their Spanish learning, children are provided with opportunities to:

• listen carefully to spoken Spanish and respond appropriately;
• develop increasingly accurate pronunciation and intonation;
• acquire and revisit a growing bank of vocabulary;
• understand and apply increasingly sophisticated grammatical structures;
• develop confidence in speaking Spanish individually, in pairs and in groups;
• read and understand Spanish words, phrases and texts;
• communicate ideas through written Spanish;
• use their existing knowledge to work out the meaning of unfamiliar language;
• develop effective language-learning strategies; and
• broaden their awareness and understanding of other cultures.

Kapow Primary Spanish follows a spiral curriculum, in which key vocabulary, grammar and skills are revisited with increasing complexity. This enables children to retrieve previous learning and build upon it as they progress through Key Stage 2.

Children initially develop confidence and accuracy orally before increasingly applying their knowledge to reading and writing as they progress through Key Stage 2.  Lessons provide varied opportunities for children to practise and apply their learning that include approaches such as independent activities, paired and group work, role-play and language games. Teachers model language carefully, with Kapow Primary providing pronunciation resources and teacher support to help deliver structured language learning confidently.

Impact

By the time children leave St Cuthbert Mayne, we want them to have developed a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards language learning and the confidence to continue their language-learning journey at secondary school.

Children will increasingly be able to:

• listen to and understand familiar spoken Spanish;
• communicate ideas, information and responses through spoken Spanish;
• demonstrate increasingly accurate pronunciation;
• read and understand familiar Spanish vocabulary, phrases and texts;
• communicate ideas through written Spanish;
• draw upon their knowledge of phonics, vocabulary and grammar when encountering a new language;
• recall and apply previously learnt vocabulary and structures;
• use appropriate strategies when they encounter unfamiliar language;
• demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of other cultures; and
• approach language learning with confidence, curiosity and resilience.

Children's progress will be evident through their increasing ability to independently draw upon their developing knowledge of phonics, vocabulary and grammar to comprehend and produce Spanish. These are the core building blocks identified within the Kapow Primary Spanish curriculum. 

Ultimately, we want pupils to leave St Cuthbert Mayne seeing themselves as capable and confident language learners, equipped with the foundations needed to continue studying languages successfully and with a greater appreciation of the diverse world in which they live.

Our Spanish learning journey in a nutshell

Listen → Repeat → Understand → Speak → Read → Write → Communicate

Underpinning this journey are the three building blocks of phonics, vocabulary and grammar, which children continually revisit and apply as their understanding develops.

Oracy Opportunities

Through our Spanish curriculum, pupils have regular opportunities to develop their oracy skills by:

• Listening attentively to spoken Spanish and responding appropriately.
• Repeating and practising vocabulary with accurate pronunciation and intonation.
• Participating in structured conversations and role-play activities.
• Asking and answering questions in Spanish.
• Performing songs, rhymes and poems to develop fluency and confidence.
• Working collaboratively to practise and apply new language skills.
• Presenting information about themselves and familiar topics.
• Expressing opinions and preferences using increasingly sophisticated language.
• Developing active listening skills and responding respectfully to others.
• Building confidence when speaking in front of peers and larger audiences.

These opportunities help children become articulate, confident communicators who can express themselves clearly, listen carefully and engage positively with others. Through language learning, pupils develop communication skills that support success across the curriculum and prepare them to participate fully in an increasingly global society.

British Values

The Spanish curriculum promotes British Values through:

• Mutual Respect: appreciating different languages, cultures and traditions.
• Tolerance: developing understanding and acceptance of people from diverse backgrounds.
• Individual Liberty: encouraging children to communicate their ideas and opinions confidently.
• Democracy: working collaboratively, taking turns and valuing the contributions of others.
• Rule of Law: understanding expectations and conventions within language learning and cultural contexts.