2020 Has Been Very Busy In The Spanish Department!

In KS2 we had a Restaurant seating in the class, created a menu.  We went shopping looking for clothes, made hotel reservations and visited a travel agency to prepare our trip to one of the 21 Spanish speaking countries.

The KS1 students introduced their families, describing the clothes that they were wearing, naming the rooms in the house, and increasing their vocabulary in a fun way through the Rockalingua songs and games.

The students have been involved in real life communication situations, by allowing and making sure that their natural strategies for language acquisition are used. This has opened them up to learning and using the language.

As a result, the students, especially in Year 5 and 6, can see that what they are learning is useful.

Setting up different situations that students are likely to encounter in real life, like everyday conversations about the weather, your hobbies or the family, reading comics and telling stories using the vocabulary and topics that we are working on, have allowed them to learn in a more natural way.

I would like to continue working next year trying to increase the responsibility to participate in the lessons using the TPRS methods (Teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling), for the students to gain confidence in using the Spanish language.

Additionally, we also encourage the students to take more responsibility for their own learning, helping us create the appropriate and relaxed atmosphere needed for this second language acquisition process to be more successful.

Javier Vidal
Junior School Spanish Teacher