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Modern Foreign Languages

Our curriculum intent for modern foreign languages is that by the end of Key Stage 2, all children will:

  • understand and speak Spanish with accurate pronunciation and intonation.

The curriculum builds on four key areas: speaking, listening, writing and reading. We use a program called Languagenut to support our teaching. Each child has a login so they can continue to practise their language skills outside of the classroom. 

A link to the Languagenut website can be found here.

Based on the national curriculum and supplementary resources, here is a mapping of simple Spanish language objectives for Year 3 to Year 6.

 

General Objectives for Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6)

 

The national curriculum for languages aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • Understand and respond to language: This includes both spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources.

  • Speak with increasing confidence and fluency: This involves expressing ideas, asking questions, and improving pronunciation and intonation.

  • Write at varying lengths: Students should be able to write for different purposes and audiences, using the grammatical structures they have learned.

  • Appreciate a range of writing: Students should discover and develop an appreciation of literature in the language studied.

The curriculum also outlines that pupils should be taught to:

  • Listen attentively and show understanding by joining in and responding.

  • Explore patterns and sounds through songs and rhymes.

  • Engage in conversations, ask and answer questions, and express opinions.

  • Develop an understanding of basic grammar, including feminine, masculine, and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs.

 

Year 3 Objectives

 

  • Speaking & Listening: The main emphasis is on familiarizing children with the sounds and speech patterns of the language. They will listen to and join in with songs, poems, and stories, and begin to mimic and play with sounds. They should be able to communicate with others using simple words and phrases.

  • Reading: Students should be able to recognize and understand some familiar words and phrases in written form. They should also begin to read aloud with confidence.

  • Writing: The focus is on writing some familiar simple words using a model and beginning to experiment with building short phrases from memory.

  • Grammar & Vocabulary: Students will learn numbers 1-31, colors, and basic vocabulary related to their family and daily routines. They will begin to understand and apply some simple grammatical patterns.

 

Year 4 Objectives

 

  • Speaking & Listening: Students will develop their ability to ask and answer a wider range of questions. They will also begin to express opinions on topics such as food and fashion.

  • Reading: Students will read and understand the main points in a short, written text. They will also start to use a dictionary or glossary to find the meaning of new words.

  • Writing: The focus shifts to writing a short text on a familiar topic, adapting language they have already learned. They will begin to understand that words in Spanish and English may not always have a direct equivalent.

  • Grammar & Vocabulary: Vocabulary expands to include descriptions of people, places, and things. Students will learn to use verbs like tener (to have) and ser/estar (to be). They will also begin to understand simple adjective agreement.

 

Year 5 Objectives

 

  • Speaking & Listening: Students will increase their confidence and fluency in speaking. They will be able to take part in simple conversations, selecting appropriate phrases. They will also learn how to give reasons for their opinions using porque (because).

  • Reading: Students will read and understand some detail from a short written text. They will also become more confident in using a bilingual dictionary.

  • Writing: The focus is on creating their own sentences and writing at greater length. Students will work on writing about their home, including the number of rooms and furniture.

  • Grammar & Vocabulary: Vocabulary will include topics such as food, sports, music, and time. Students will learn to express likes and dislikes using me gusta and no me gusta. They will also be introduced to the irregular verb hacer (to do/make) and the concept of plural verb forms.

 

Year 6 Objectives

 

  • Speaking & Listening: Students will speak with increasing confidence, fluency, and spontaneity, and will be able to present information orally to a range of audiences. They will engage in conversations about holidays and festivals.

  • Reading: Students will read and understand the main points and some details from a range of authentic texts. They will use contextual clues and knowledge of text types to deduce the meaning of unknown vocabulary.

  • Writing: They will be able to write at varying lengths for different purposes and audiences, using the grammatical structures they have learned. This includes writing about holidays and leisure activities.

  • Grammar & Vocabulary: Vocabulary will expand to include cities, places, and geographical features of Spanish-speaking countries. Students will work on using the verb ir (to go) and expressing future plans. They will consolidate their knowledge of grammatical threads like questions, nouns and determiners, and verbs.

 

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Update for 2025-2026

We are committed to providing a high-quality MFL curriculum that prepares our pupils for their next steps. After a recent review, we have decided to focus our language teaching on Spanish to align with the curriculum at Furze Platt and Newlands, where the majority of our children continue their secondary education.

To ensure a smooth transition, we are temporarily adjusting our MFL provision for the 2025-2026 academic year. We will now be delivering our MFL curriculum exclusively in the summer term. During this time, our Year 6 pupils will participate in an intensive Spanish programme led by a specialist teacher, ensuring they are well-prepared for secondary school.

This temporary change allows us to dedicate crucial time to the successful implementation of our new whole-school handwriting scheme. This initiative, which is a priority for our federation, is based on the latest guidance from the Department for Education, published in July 2025. Once this new scheme is successfully embedded across all year groups, we plan to reintroduce Spanish as a core part of the curriculum throughout the year.

We have also enriched our curriculum with the introduction of new emotional literacy lessons, which are now linked to PSHE through our Responsible Behaviour programme.

We believe that by regularly reviewing our curriculum to meet the evolving needs of our community, we can make strategic decisions that prioritise key areas of learning while still ensuring all subjects are taught effectively. The national curriculum expects MFL to be covered by the end of Key Stage 2, and this approach allows us to meet that requirement while focusing on other vital skills.

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