Languages

At St Catherine’s we have a commitment to giving our children an excellent start to language learning, ready to be citizens of the European community.  Our Spanish curriculum is a real strength of our school and a very popular part of our school learning!

The children in KS1 learn Spanish through songs and games in an informal, fun way.  Children have set Spanish lessons each week taught by Mrs Chidgey.  Our children in EYFS are also exposed to initial learning about Spanish culture and words.

In KS2, the children carry on learning Spanish with Mrs Taylor, our MFL teacher.  They progress from learning basic vocabulary to producing sentences and creating letters and videos in Spanish. They receive a weekly lesson from Mrs Taylor and the class teachers also consolidate their language learning in class, through the register, Singing Square and Languages Day.

Our learning of the Spanish language runs throughout our school curriculum.  Our children have many fantastic learning opportunities including:

• Being involved in our annual Spanish Exchange
• Taking part in Google Meets with our Spanish partner schools to practise language skills in a purposeful way
• Our annual Spanish Cafe, where children create Spanish menus and then serve food and drink to our parents and other children in Spanish
• Learning of Spanish songs and hymns
• Spanish Singing Squares

We have two very successful partnerships with CPI Palacios in Galicia, Northern Spain, which has been going since 2009, and with CEIP Mallón since 2013 with many of our pupils spending a week in Spain whilst in Year 5 and building long lasting friendships. All of the school benefit when the Spanish children return to spend a week in class with the Year 5 children and join in a selection of whole school activities. This has become a highlight of the school year, with all of our children experiencing elements of our return Spanish Exchange in different ways.

We aim to encourage the children in their Foreign Language acquisition through fun-filled activities, songs, games and stories whilst directing the older children to use more complex language in sentences and role plays.

We are proud to hold the International Schools Award and have also worked with other local schools to support them in their development of their language curriculum.