Spanish

Our Vision

“With languages you are at home anywhere”

Edward de Waal

At Bowland High, the Modern Foreign Languages curriculum across Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 provides students with the opportunity to experience foreign language and culture through the exploration of diverse topics with the ultimate aim of developing sophisticated language skills and pupils being able to express themselves in a foreign language, have an appreciation and understanding of the culture where that language is spoken and promote global citizenship.

Our Curriculum

In Key Stage 3, students will build on any prior learning at Key Stage 2, exploring grammar in greater depth within a curriculum that sequences knowledge and skills to develop linguistic competence. Key Stage 3 should not be a ‘waiting room’ for GCSE courses at Key Stage 4, rather the starting point for developing a love of language which, in turn, should also widen their understanding of their mother-tongue. Indeed, as Goethe states: “He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own”.

Pupils will have the opportunity to study more complex topics such as technology, social media and the environment to increase enjoyment and relevance to their own lives, whilst also promoting the importance of overcoming barriers to communication such as a fear of not being understood or feeling linguistically inferior compared to our European neighbours.

The curriculum will also develop students’ abilities to articulate their thoughts, feelings and opinions on a range of topics and enquire and be empathetic about others’ views. The development of linguistic competencies will also help to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills, develop leadership qualities and build resilience. A differentiated curriculum will be challenging, yet accessible, for all ability levels and promote skills transferable to a wide range of careers and allow all students to achieve their potential.

Underpinning Principles

The curriculum in Spanish is structured so that progress is based upon the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical understanding in a very clear and progressive way. The curriculum at Key Stage 4 will revisit many topics studied at Key Stage 3 with the aim of exploring them in greater depth to develop more sophisticated grammatical understanding and linguistic competence from the foundations developed in Key Stage 3. Language is recycled and revisited throughout both key stages in familiar and unfamiliar contexts with the aim of developing sophisticated retrieval techniques to aid spontaneity and fluency. The Key Stage 4 curriculum sequences topics, language and grammar to deepen students’ understanding of how the language works, enrich their vocabulary and encourage pupils to manipulate language to suit their audience and purpose. The Spanish curriculum regularly reviews vocabulary and grammar learned throughout the year across different groups in both key stages. The curriculum should definitely promote a love of language and culture and encourage further study. In a rapidly changing world, the curriculum should reflect a need to keep apace of innovations and develop confident, accurate and independent users of the language they study. It is also our intention that students do not just learn different ways to say the same thing, but also how to learn different ways to think about things.

The MFL department at Bowland sets out the following:

• • to build upon prior knowledge from Key Stage 2 (where possible).

  • to inspire a lifelong curiosity and fascination about the wider world.

  • to inspire pupils through visits and experiences that may shape future plans.

  • to equip pupils with knowledge about language structures, vocabulary and pronunciation, cultural issues and an understanding of how to manipulate language for their own purposes.

  • to develop the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in equal measure.

  • to provide a balanced curriculum that teaches pupils about global and social issues, personal relationships, healthy lifestyles, local area, free time, holidays and education and future plans.

  • to use a range of artificial and authentic sources to teach and inspire a love of language.

  • to develop competency in language learners by providing them with the tools required to:

  • work out the meaning of familiar and unfamiliar language using context.

  • translate a written or oral text from one language to another.

  • communicate accurately in a variety of ways.

  • recall knowledge regularly and accurately.

Spanish Staff