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 2
Reception have continued their learning of the numbers 1-5. They have enjoyed playing the games and singing songs to help them remember!
Year 1 have enjoyed singing songs and playing games using our Spanish resource Language Angels. The children have revisited their learning on days of the week, numbers and colours. They have taken part in simple conversations, using greetings and introducing themselves by name.
The children in Year 2 enjoyed learning about the seasons and the events associated with each season. They found the season sentences quite tricky to pronounce as none were similar to the English. They continue to love the games and activities on Language Angels.
Too fruity for words! In Spanish this half term, Year 3 have been learning the names for different fruits. They have identified the names of fruits in Spanish matching these to the English version of the word. They have enjoyed playing speaking and listening games using the program Language Angels.
In Year 4, the children have been learning the vocabulary linked to some sea creatures. They have learned how to ask the question: ‘What do you see?’, then have answered it with the Spanish words for various sea creatures. They have enjoyed the songs and games within this topic!
You can enjoy one of Year 5’s favourite Spanish songs here, https://youtu.be/6sVqqDHjrYI. Year 5 have been learning how to describe the weather. As you can see in the pictures below, they enjoyed matching pictures with a description of the weather and trying to fill in the listening grid while someone described the weather. Finally, they took advantage of the sunny weather to plan and record a weather report.
Year 6 have done a fantastic job learning all about the weather. They have taken part in speaking, listening and reading activities linked to weather conversations and written their own weather reports.
Summer 1
This half term in Year 1, the children revisited their learning of days of the week and colours. They have loved taking part in games and singing songs about numbers and months of the year.
Wow! Year 2 have loved using ‘language angels’ to learn about animals. They enjoyed pronouncing 10 different animals in Spanish and playing a range of games to consolidate their knowledge.
Hablar Espanol! This half term the children in Year 3 have been learning 10 different verbs in Spanish. They have learned how to say: I know how to dance – Se bailar or Se cocinar – I know how to cook.
They have enjoyed using the Language Angels resources to support their learning of this new language.
Year 4 have been learning the names of some vegetables in Spanish. They have loved taking part in games and songs to help them remember the words. They have completed activities such as word searches, puzzles and matching tasks. This is the song the children have enjoyed, which helped them to remember the Spanish vocabulary: https://www.languageangels.com/schools/resource/2/4/154/818
Year 5 have enjoyed the challenge of, ‘la ropa’ this half term. The children have been able to recognise the vocabulary for a variety of clothes in Spanish. They have practised using the verb LLEVAR in Spanish with increasing confidence. As you can see in the pictures below, they worked with a partner to say what they wear in different weather or situations and described clothes in terms of their colour.
Year 6 have been following the unit Me presento (Presenting Myself). They have been learning formal and informal greetings, how to express different feelings using the adverb Muy (very) and numbers (beyond 20) in different contexts. They have taken part in speaking and listening activities, and written their own conversations, as well as learning to sing songs in Spanish.
Spring 2
In Early Years this term the children have explored saying good morning and good afternoon to their friends.
Year 1 have revisited their prior learning on numbers and colours. They have enjoyed listening to and singing popular nursery rhymes including, Old MacDonald, the Wheels on the Bus and Incy Wincy Spider, as well as learning the names of some animals.
Wow! Year 2 have loved using ‘Language Angels’ to learn about ice-creams. They enjoyed pronouncing 10 different ice-creams in Spanish and ordering their favourite. The challenge is to become more confident in role playing at the ice-cream shop.
Year 3 have been learning the verbs ‘to live and ‘to have’ with characters from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age. They have taken part in speaking and listening activities, and matched vocabulary linked to weapons and homes from the past.
Year 4 have enjoyed the songs and games on Language Angels, within their topic ‘me presento’. They have been able to recap numbers to 20 and also what you might say when you greet someone. The children have learned how to say their name and their age, when asked. They can also say how each other might be feeling and can answer too! Year 4 have also learned how to say where they live and also their nationality!
In Year 5 this half term has been all about naming minibeasts. The children learned how to say 10 minibeasts and to recognise and follow instructions in Spanish. They particularly enjoyed following the simple stretches and breathing exercises. Repeating the physical actions, saying the words and short phrases each lesson helped to ensure that the children remembered all the new words and language.
Spanish made Year 6 very hungry this half term. The children learned how to order a range of different foods and drinks in a café, and enjoyed role playing their conversations. They also linked our learning with numbers and greetings from previous units, to add to their performances!
Spring 1
EYFS
This half term, the children have listened to and enjoyed some famous nursery rhymes, in Spanish. These included Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald and Incy Wincy Spider.
Year 1
Year 1 have revisited their prior learning on numbers and colours. They have really enjoyed listening to and singing some popular nursery rhymes including, Old MacDonald and Wheels on the Bus, as well as learning the names of some animals.
Year 2
Wow! The children in Year 2 have loved singing about the colours and numbers as well as learning shapes. They quickly realised many of them sounded similar to the English. It was tricky completing a word search but working in pairs helped with this. Creating a colour picture was a nice ending to the topic!
Year 3
Piano, harp, guitar? Which instrument do you play? This half term Year 3 have been learning how to say ‘What instrument do you play?’ They have been learning the different names for instruments and can pronounce them correctly.
Year 4
This half term the children have learned the Spanish words for members of their family. They have been able to say who is in their family and also how old they are. They have also been able to say where the members of their family live. The children have loved using Language Angels to help them learn Spanish – especially the games and songs!
Year 5
In Year 5, the children have been learning all about the date in Spanish. The children found the trickiest part was remembering how to say and spell the seven days of the week. They tried to think of different strategies to help, such as how they can link them to the days of the week in English and put them in the correct order. However, the children were a lot more confident when it came to remembering how to say and spell the twelve months of the year. They found that a lot of the months are very similar, for example September and Septiembre. Finally, they practised the numbers from 1 to 31 so that they could say the date.
Year 6
Year 6 have been learning to say what they live in and where. They have taken part in speaking and listening activities, and even written their own conversations. They have listened to songs in Spanish, with their favourite being ‘Dondes Vives’ (where do you live?) because of its catchy chorus.
Autumn 2
EYFS
In Early Years, the children have explored where Spain is on the world map and have enjoyed colouring in some flags using the correct colours of red and yellow.
Year 1
Using Language angels, the children have been learning the days of the week in Spanish. Check out their favourite song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbspMMdJU8
Year 2
Year 2 have enjoyed using the Language Angels website to support their Spanish this half term. They looked at colours and numbers! Their favourite part are the games as it was discovered that year 2 do not like losing to the computer! This helped with their spellings of the colours. The songs have been a huge success!
Year 3
Uno, dos, tres…. The children have been learning how to count in Spanish. They are confident when counting up to 20 and are developing their pronunciation of numbers up to 100. Year 3 have loved playing the games from Language Angels!
Year 4
The children have enjoyed learning about animals’ habitats, through speaking and listening, games and songs. They have been able to write and translate sentences between Spanish and English.
Year 5
Year 5 have been learning to answer the question “Tienes una mascota?” (“Do you have a pet?”). They have enjoyed playing different games such as snap and singing songs. The children have been able to say and write which pets they have and if they don’t have a pet.
Year 6
In year 6, the children have really enjoyed learning about their four new Spanish speaking friends, Carmen, Juan-Pablo, Jorge and Pilar. They learned how to talk about where they are from as well as their favourite festivals. The children have enjoyed seeing how people celebrate different festivals across the world. In year 5, the children made Day of the Dead masks, and the children loved finding out that Carmen’s favourite festival was El Día De Los Muertos, which is Day of the Dead in Spanish! Year 6 linked their learning of where in the world Spanish is spoken, with their Geography topic focus of South America.
Autumn 1
Year 1
The children have enjoyed learning words in Spanish, listening to stories and joining in with Spanish songs. They have learnt how to say ‘hello’ in Spanish.
Year 2
The children love to greet each other throughout the day using Spanish phrases, including answering the register. They have listened to Spanish stories, attempted repeated phrases and sang simple songs in Spanish. They particularly like saying the Spanish numbers to 5 and are trying to get to 10.
Year 3
HOLA! Year 3 are becoming very confident with Spanish greetings. They know a range of greetings such as Buenos Dias (good morning), Buenos Tardes (good afternoon) and Buenos Noches which is good evening. They even use these phrases during registration times. They have also spent some time, using an atlas, finding countries around the world that are Spanish speaking and have designed posters to show Spanish culture.
Year 4
The children have been learning all about the Spanish weather. They have been able to name the seasons, and have also learned the key weather types. The children also learned how to say the compass directions. They then put these all together and became weather forecasters!
As part of European Languages day, Year 4 learned about France. They learned how to greet each other in French and also had the opportunity to try some French food. The children’s favourite was definitely the chocolate crepe and the least favourite was the goat’s cheese – it’s a good job Miss Bartlett loved it!
Year 5
The have revised numbers to 30 and months of the year. They have enjoyed playing different games such as, the loop game and ordering the months of the year. The children have been able to say and write their ages and birthdays.
Year 6
The children have begun to use the verb “yo tener” (I have) and “tu tienes” (you have). They have been playing games such as Simon Says and I Spy using simple instructions. The children have sung songs in Spanish such as “Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”, which was a lot of fun! As part of European Languages Day, Year 6 learned how to introduce themselves, their age and where they live in German.
