Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at Cotsford
At Cotsford Primary School we believe that learning a new language is a way of liberating children and provides an opening to other cultures. It is our intent that through Spanish we will increase children’s respect and tolerance of different cultures and, through a high-quality languages programme, should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. Children are introduced to Spanish in EYFS, year 1 and 2 through games, songs and stories focusing on new vocabulary and cultural awareness. This enables the children to develop early language acquisition skills that facilitate their understanding of the patterns of language and how these differ from, or are similar to, English. In KS2, each class has a weekly Spanish lesson. The teaching should provide an appropriate balance of spoken and written language and should lay the foundations for further foreign language teaching at key stage 3.
Please click the link for Modern Foreign Languages National Curriculum Information
Summer 1
Key stage 1
The children in Key Stage 1 have been working on developing the vocabulary by playing matching games and singing songs.
Key stage 2
This half term, Key Stage 2 have been bringing together knowledge from different half terms, to help us discuss our ages and when we were born. We spent plenty of time verbally practicing – linking the pronunciation with how we learn to read in English. We also were able to play some fantastic games to help make connections between the written and spoken Spanish.
Spring 2
Key stage 1
In key stage 1 the children have loved learning about different aspects of Spanish culture including learning the flamenco and comparing beaches in Spain and the UK.
Key stage 2
Key stage 2 children finished working on classroom objects and naming different stationary in their pencil case.
They then moved onto parts of the body and started to learn the song ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ in Spanish.
Working in pairs the children would say a part of the face in Spanish and their friend would repeat what they were saying in English. The children laughed and giggled and had great fun learning.
Spring 1
Year 1
‘Feliz Ano Nueva!’ – Happy New Year – We have loved comparing how New Year is celebrated in Spain and the UK. We have listened to a short story and a variety of nursery rhymes and finger rhymes, listening for words or phrases that we already knew. We found ‘uno, dos, tres, feliz, grande, buneos dias and gracias as well as other Spanish words that we knew.
Year 2
Wow! The children in Year 2 have loved singing about fruit and veg in Spanish this half term. They have recapped on colours and numbers by playing shops. The children had to greet their partner as if they were going to the shops. From this they had to ask for fruit/veg, the colour of it as well as how many they want of each. The children loved this activity as their partner had to listen carefully and translate in English.
Year 3
‘¿Que tal?’ has been our focus for this half term in Year 3 – the children have enjoyed exploring emotions and practising saying how they are feeling. The children have also been practising their numbers to 15 in Spanish and are becoming increasingly confident!
Year 4
As you can see in the pictures below, Year 4 have been practising colours in Spanish and being able to say the colours that they like and dislike.
Year 5 and 6
Throughout our ‘Classroom objects’ unit this half term, the children have really enjoyed learning our new vocabulary and playing games. They even attempted to write some simple sentences in Spanish. Well done Year 5 and 6!
Autumn 2
Wow! The children in Year 1 and 2 have loved singing about colours and shapes and in Spanish this half term. Every spare minute, they have requested the songs. They also enjoyed labelling the whole classroom by colours or shapes. They had a fab time creating a new sports kit using a range of colours and shapes. Until, they were asked to label it in Spanish! Watch out they will be labelling their homes soon!
The children in Key Stage 2 have loved their Spanish topics this half term. They have learnt how to say and write the date including the days of the week and the months of the year. During their second topic, they learnt about Christmas or Navidad. During this time, they discussed how Christmas is celebrated in Spain as well as keywords in the language.
Autumn 1
The children in EYFS and Key Stage 1 have been learning about Spain and the basics of the Spanish language. They have started with simple greetings, such as ‘hola’ and ‘adios’. Year 2’s favourite phrase is ‘hasta manana’, which means ‘see you tomorrow’! They have listened to Spanish stories, attempted repeated phrases and sang simple songs in Spanish.
In Year 3, the children have also been learning the basics of the language. They focussed on greetings and the Spanish alphabet. They talked about what they might see if they went to Spain, including their culture. The children then created a poster about Spain, using everything they’d learned.
Year 4 have focussed on the weather. The children have learnt 10 new weather phrases to describe everyday weather. They used these phrases to have a conversation with their partner and write a simple question and answer. The children enjoyed learning more new vocabulary associated with the seasons and describing what the weather is like in different parts of Spain.
Year 5 have been learning the seasons and months of the year. They have also been developing their understanding of instructions in the classroom, to try and immerse themselves in the language as much as possible. They found it so interesting that in Spanish, months of the year do not use capital letters, unlike in English, where all proper nouns do!
Year 6 have revised months of the year and can now recite these with confidence. They moved on to ordering the months of the year into seasons and know some words related to each season. They have started to learn different weather types and are having fun learning how to pronounce these correctly.
