Foreign Languages

Class Learning

¿Por qué Español?

There are lots of exciting changes taking place at Barnabas Oley, with regard to language teaching and learning. Following the introduction of the new language curriculum in September 2014, we are now obliged to teach one language to the whole of Key Stage 2.

Comberton Village College (CVC), our partner school, teaches Spanish in Year 7, and therefore, we concentrate on Spanish as our main language. Years 3 and 4 are taught by their class teachers and Years 5 and 6 are taught by a native Spanish teacher, Señorita Vazquez-Valero from CVC.

These lessons last 50 minutes and are conducted almost entirely in Spanish, with Mrs Jackson assisting. The emphasis is on the spoken word with lots of opportunity for discussion, role play and games, backed up in its written form, both on the whiteboard and in workbooks. The lesson plans are specifically prepared for each year group by CVC.

Our connection with CVC aside, there are many reasons to choose Spanish as our main foreign language:

• Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world in terms of numbers of speakers, and the second most studied language.
• It is the second most commonly used language in the world for international communications and trade, and is one of the official languages of the UN and its organisations.
• If you speak Spanish, you will be able to communicate with 500 million people around the world.
• If you speak Spanish many more job opportunities will be available to you.
• It is very helpful to be able to speak Spanish if you travel to Spain or Latin America.

In order to practise, consolidate and extend their language learning, all pupils have access to Espresso at home.

Our main aim is for the children to have fun, whilst raising awareness of and interest in another language and culture.

Latest Class Learning News 

Early Work

We are the first primary school in cb23 to introduce Spanish Early Work every week and are very proud of it. KS2 class teachers provide a 30 minute slot, once a week, between 9am – 9.30am to be given over to Spanish.  Spanish Early Work consolidates the lesson from the previous Thursday in worksheet format and the results are noticeable in the lessons.

Spring Term 2019

During this term, Year 5 have focused on learning to give their opinions on a variety of subjects including food and sports. They have used ‘me gusta, me gustan, me encanta, and odio’ to express their preferences. The children enjoyed a fun session planning and performing a short dance routine, giving instructions for the moves in Spanish!

Year 6 have been fascinated by the interesting and colourful festivals which take place in Spain at different times of the year including El Carnaval de Cadiz, Las Fallas, La Feria de Abril and San Fermin. This has given them the opportunity to learn a huge amount of new vocabulary, and enabled them to speak and write descriptively.

Several Year 2 groups from Maple Class have taken part in a lunchtime club where they have practised Spanish words for colours, numbers and parts of the body using games and songs, encouraged by our Year 6 Language Leaders, Ines, Rosie, Katherine and Ella.

Comberton Village College - Year 9 Language Leaders Visit - December 2018

Three Year 9 Language Leaders from Comberton Village College came to lead the Y5 and Y6 lessons. The students focused on teaching the children Spanish Christmas vocabulary through repetition, pictures, games and role play. They had prepared various listening, spoken and written activities for the children to work on. Years 5 and 6 thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and can now communicate their Christmas present wishes in Spanish!

Autumn Term 2018

Language learning in the new school year has started really well.  Years 5 and 6 have welcomed a new Spanish teacher from Comberton Village College, Señorita Barnes, and participate enthusiastically in her lively lessons on a Thursday afternoon.  Already, Year 5 can talk confidently about their breakfast routines and likes/dislikes as well as being able to use the date and time successfully.  Meanwhile, Year 6 are able to report the weather conditions, locate and comment on many Spanish cities and are beginning to use verbs correctly!  

Several Year 5 and 6 children have chosen the languages activity from their homework options, to research any aspect of Spain or Spanish life.  Their work has been displayed on the Languages Display in the corridor, earning themselves a house point - well done.

Both year groups are looking forward to Thursday 6 December when the Comberton Language Leaders visit to lead the lessons.

Comberton Village College - Year 9 Language Leaders Visit 

Summer Term 2018

The pupils in Years 5 and 6 were treated to a fun afternoon in June, when the Language Leaders from Comberton Village College visited. In order to reinforce new vocabulary, they played team games in both the classroom and outside, which they thoroughly enjoyed, as you can see from the photos. The feedback from the Year 5 and 6 pupils was very positive. We, as a school, really appreciate all the hard work and energy that goes into preparing and presenting a 50-minute lesson. We are also extremely proud of the fact that CVC Language Leaders continue to include so many ex-Barnabas Oley pupils.

Spanish Lesson Activity - Willow and Silver Birch Classes

Making Mothers' Day Cards - March 2018

Comberton Village College - Language Leaders Visit 

Spring Term 2018

We were visited by the Language Leaders from Comberton Village for this first time this year. It is always lovely to see some of our ex-pupils amongst them and the children they teach are particularly excited by their visits for this very reason, they say.  Our pupils were very focused and the level of participation was very high. This time the Language Leaders decided to award certificates to the pupils, who had shown a high level of participation, and these were given to them in our Celebration Assembly the following day, much to their surprise. The Year 5s learnt all about the food the Spanish eat at Easter and decorated paper plates to illustrate this. They learnt the new food vocabulary through repetition and a fun ball game. The Year 6s learnt about "Things you find on the Farm". We all had a lovely afternoon.

Comberton Village College - Language Leaders Visit

Autumn Term 2017

Years 5 and 6 were taught by a group of Language Leaders from Comberton Village College in the run up to Christmas. Two of the Leaders were ex-Barnabas Oley pupils, which made the visit even more special.  They delivered 2 x 50 minute lessons, using MS Powerpoint presentations and worksheets, which they had prepared themselves.

The children particularly liked the game where they had to throw and catch a ball in order to answer a question, as you can see from the photos below. Some children wrote letters to the Three Kings (not Father Christmas, as we usually do), saying what they would like for Christmas.

The afternoon was a fun learning experience for everyone involved. This was the first outing for this group of Language Leaders and we hope to welcome them again next year, to help them gain even more experience. As usual, we were impressed by the enthusiasm, behaviour and excellent level of participation, along with the high standard of spoken Spanish.

Comberton Village College - Language Leaders Visit 2017

In both the Spring and Summer Terms, the Language Leaders came from Comberton to teach the Years 3, 4 and 5.  They delivered hour-long lessons covering food, likes and dislikes. The Year 5 pupils were treated to a taster session in French, covering the basics such as greetings, names and map of France in jigsaw format. The lessons were delivered using self-made Powerpoint presentations and games in a fun and interactive manner. The Barnabas Oley Languages Governor observed the sessions in the Spring Term and was impressed by the enthusiasm, behaviour and excellent level of participation, as well as the high standard of spoken Spanish and French.

Summer Term 2017

Spring Term 2017

Spanish Homework

The Year 4 pupils have been learning about Family in Spanish this term, so this is also given as a choice on their Homework Sheets. I am delighted to see that more and more pupils are choosing Spanish for Homework. Aurora chose to draw and illustrate her family tree in Spanish and included some information about each family member. Rosabella, wrote a detailed account of her family using the topic and key words provided in class. Tomos and Ava also provided lovely descriptions of their families. They should all be really proud of the high standard of work produced.

Other Spanish News

Spanish Masterclass

George Cain in Year 6, recently spent some time at a Spanish Masterclass at Kimbolton School. He wrote all about it, so that I could share it on the Spanish Display Board in the school corridor.

"I recently spent four Saturdays studying Spanish at Kimbolton. We practised many of the things I had already learnt at Barnabas Oley, such as greetings, introducing ourselves and saying how old we are. I extended my knowledge of numbers to 100. We also learnt how to say when our birthday is and practised the Spanish words for pets and family. Señor Gomez and Señorita Jarrat talked about where they came from in Spain. We revised the Spanish alphabet and discussed the pronunciation of the trickier letters, such as ‘j’ being pronounced ‘h’ in Spanish. Although attending the Masterclass meant that I missed my Saturday football, I’m really glad I did it and would recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their spoken and written Spanish".

Willow Class Assembly

Willow Class held their class assembly in February and included a song they had learnt in their Spanish lesson about things in their backpack, in line with the Year 3/4 curriculum. George Ducker and Alex Roberts explained some of the grammar and pronunciation rules to the school first, such as adjectives going after the nouns and the silent ‘h’ at the beginning of words. The class were commended by several parents on their confidence and excellent pronunciation and should be very proud of their performance.  See also RE/Collective Worship Governor Visit Reports.

Useful Links

See also Previous Years' Class Learning

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