Languages
Langauges Whole School Overview
Spanish at Drighlington Primary School
At Drighlington Primary, we believe learning a language opens the door to the wider world. Through Spanish, children begin to understand different cultures, build confidence and develop skills that will support them throughout their lives.
We want our children to enjoy learning a language and feel proud of what they can do. By the time they leave us, our aim is that they feel confident, curious and ready to continue learning languages at secondary school.
What does Spanish look like in our school?
Children begin learning Spanish in Year 3, where they are introduced to simple words, phrases and sounds in a fun and engaging way. As they move through Key Stage 2, they build on this knowledge and begin to:
- Speak in short conversations
- Understand and respond to spoken Spanish
- Read and write simple words, phrases and sentences
- Learn about how the language works
Lessons are active and enjoyable, often including:
- Games and interactive activities
- Songs and repetition to help with pronunciation
- Partner talk and speaking practice
- Opportunities to practise new vocabulary in different topics
We use a scheme called Language Angels to support teaching and ensure that learning builds step by step across the school.
Learning beyond the classroom
We believe language learning should be exciting and meaningful, so we enrich our Spanish curriculum throughout the year.
Children have opportunities to:
- Take part in Spanish-themed days across the school
- Celebrate European Day of Languages
- Learn about Spanish-speaking countries and their cultures
- Try traditional music, food and customs
- Be inspired by our Spanish Champions, who help promote language learning across school
These experiences help children see that language learning is about much more than words—it’s about understanding the world around them.
Making birthday cards for our classmates. Year 3 making a traditional Spanish dessert - Torrijas.
Why is learning a language important?
Learning Spanish helps children to:
- Build confidence in speaking and listening
- Develop problem-solving skills as they spot patterns in language
- Improve memory and concentration
- Gain an appreciation of different cultures and communities
We also encourage children to become “language detectives”, using what they already know about English to help them work out new words and meanings.
Our aim
We want every child to:
- Enjoy learning Spanish
- Feel confident to have a go
- Be curious about other cultures
- Leave primary school ready for the next step in their language learning journey
Spanish Champions
In 2022, we introduced our Spanish Champions to Drighlington Primary. Each class, from Y3 to Y6, has 2 Spanish Champions who are responsible for promoting Spanish language use and a love of all things Spanish across the school. Each week they attend a meeting, where they decide on a theme and learn key pieces of Spanish vocabulary related to that theme. They then take back to their classes to learn that week. The aim is for the vocabulary to be words that can be used frequently, thus promoting retention. We started with greetings and words that could be used for answering the register - if you are in school at registration, you will hear the children responding to the register in a variety of different ways. By far the most popular part of the role has been the opportunity for the champions to go and teach the vocabulary to our younger pupils; every week they teach a short lesson to our R-Y2 pupils and they really are skilled at it!
How you can help your child at home
Partnerships with parents and carers is an important part of Drighlington Primary School. Working closely with parents enables us to ensure parents feel confident that their child is safe, well looked and is receiving a high quality education during their school hours. The links below offer a range of resources that may also be useful to families:
A greetings song https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks1--ks2-mfl-spanish-greetings-with-ben-shires/zfksqp3
Introductions https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/spanish-ks2-introducing-yourself-in-spanish/zd2jmfr
Animals https://www.euroclub-schools.org/los-animales-spanish-song
Numbers https://www.euroclub-schools.org/numbers-1-to-10-spanish-song
Colours https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/spanish-ks2-painting-and-colours/zbcb47h
Family https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/spanish-ks2-meeting-a-spanish-family/z4d9wty
Telling the time https://www.euroclub-schools.org/telling-the-time-spanish-song
Weather https://www.euroclub-schools.org/spanish-weather-song
The date https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/znd86rd#z2bwh4j
Food and Revision https://www.digitaldialects.com/Spanish.htm
Word reference dictionary https://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=
Stories in Spanish https://www.thespanishexperiment.com/stories?fbclid=IwAR0dvE1xJ-bzmJXjQKpfhRAQu02fWIGHsc9Kk4JfzxiJD2qpjALBV6FR6BA
Play some games https://www.lightbulblanguages.co.uk/resources-sp-pz.htm
Places to visit
Going to visit Spain or a Spanish speaking country is obviously the best way to practise the language. If you are lucky enough to visit Spain, you will find the local people really eager to help you speak Spanish and improve your pronunciation. Take lots of pictures of the vocabulary you see - shop names, menus etc which can then be shared and explored back in school.
There are still ways to practise your Spanish speaking skills, even in the UK:
- You could visit a local Spanish Restaurant and order your food in Spanish - there are lots in Leeds and even one in Morley https://leeds-list.com/food-and-drink/15-drool-inducing-tapas-restaurants-in-leeds/
- Have a Spanish themed meal night. Here is a link to CBeebies World Food recipe for Spanish Empanadas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kDE5VqvvK4 or try this very simple pan con tomate y aciete recipe from BBC Bitesize https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zv4d7sg/articles/z6knf4j
Further support and useful weblinks
Early Years Development Matters
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
Spanish stories to enjoy:
BBC Learning
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zxsvr82
Duolingo https://www.duolingo.com - Learn languages for free. Web or app.
