Vision: Providing knowledge and skills for future language learning.

At Curwen Primary, our Languages vision is to prepare children for life in a diverse, multicultural world. Through phonics, vocabulary and grammar, pupils develop communication and literacy skills to become confident, independent language learners. Learning another language fosters curiosity, respect and tolerance, helping children grow into open-minded adults.

 

Year 3 students were introduced to Spanish pronunciation. While some of the vowel sounds can be tricky, the children used catchy songs to help them remember.

 

 

 

 

Our students loved getting creative with simple Spanish role-play! They've been asking and answering questions about themselves, colours, numbers, days of the week, and fruits; and they are already working hard on their pronunciation when chatting with friends. A huge highlight was learning all about different fruits through the wonderful story La Sorpresa de Handa (Handa’s Surprise)

 

 

 

 

Our Year 4 students have been using a wonderful mix of videos, songs, and books to learn all about farm animals, the weather, and their families! As they dive deeper into Spanish phonics and grammar, they are making fantastic progress. They can now spot negative statements, use their phonic skills for accurate pronunciation, share simple opinions, and even manipulate language by changing a single word in a sentence to create new meaning.

 

 

 

 

 

Letter-writing is definitely not extinct in Year 5! During the Autumn Term, our students connected with penpals at Santa Clara Primary School, our partner school in Spain. This was a brilliant way for the children to bridge their English and Spanish skills—diving into dictionaries, checking spellings, and mastering grammar and punctuation.

The excitement didn't stop there. Year 5 also explored Spanish comics, using their knowledge of word order to understand the stories. Throughout the year, they took part in various role-plays, with the 'Going Shopping' being a fun, challenging, and highly rewarding highlight. We are so proud of the children's positive attitudes, which have been the secret ingredient to their learning success this year!

Continuing our long-standing partnership, Santa Clara visited Curwen this past June. This immersive experience allowed pupils from both schools to practice English and Spanish in a real-world, daily context, significantly boosting their language acquisition.

The interaction offers profound social benefits, driving a deeper acceptance and understanding of different cultural communities. By enhancing pupils' awareness of diversity and fostering mutual respect, this partnership plays a crucial role in helping our children grow into tolerant, well-rounded adults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intent

• Give all learners the knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
• Set the foundations of future language learning.
• Children learn well with a coherently planned and sequenced.
• Prior knowledge is revisited; we continually revisit what pupils have learnt before, allowing pupils to know more and to remember more.
• Allow pupils to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing
• Clear progression of phonics, vocabulary and grammar.
• Phonics, vocabulary and grammar are intertwined and allow practice of all 4 skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Promote understanding and appreciation of different cultures, showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity.

🌍 Language Awareness at Curwen! 🌍

Curwen continues to celebrate the amazing diversity of languages in our school! 💬✨

At the end of each lesson, children share what they’ve learned in their home language — whether through writing or speaking. The classroom atmosphere is incredible, with everyone feeling confident to teach and learn new languages from each other. ❤️

It is such an exciting and inspiring experience for everyone involved!

 

Language facts

• There are 6,912 languages in the world.
• 94% of the world’s population does not speak English as their first language.
• 75% do not speak English at all.
• Studying a foreign language develops your oral and written skills – even in your native language!!
• The number of careers requiring a qualification in a modern foreign language is increasing.
• More than 1,000 different languages are spoken on the Continent of Africa.
• Starting salaries for students graduating with ability in one or more modern foreign languages are higher than for students who speak English only.
• Over 300 different languages are spoken in London.
• Young people who speak at least two languages do better at school than those who speak only one.
• Learning and using a second language helps to protect the brain from the effects of ageing.
• Learning a language will make you competitive in the job market. Learning 2 even more so. Many European young people now learn 2 foreign languages as well as their own.