❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela
Spanish is the official language in the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
There are 425,000,000 Spanish speakers in the world. It is the fourth most widely spoken language.
Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.
Languages Programmes of Study, 2013
Why we teach Spanish
We want children leaving our school to have high self-esteem as well as understanding and respect for people from different cultures, lifestyles and customs. We want to expand their personal horizons, instill in them a love of learning and to foster inquisitive minds, self-discipline and self-motivation. We want them to be flexible and adaptable, to think outside the box, to be good communicators and problem solvers. It is for these reasons that we teach Spanish to every child from Nursery to Year 6. Studying Spanish improves the children’s analytic and interpretive capacities as well as their physical, linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional skills. It is the best way to prepare our children for the next steps in their education and for the future beyond.
A 2 year project funded by British Council Erasmus+, to develop the language teaching skills of our staff and to further raise the profile of Spanish throughout school. This includes 10 members of staff attending 2 residential courses in Santander, hosted by ClaroGB.
Year Six Green Screen Filming
View entire film in Video Resource Centre