Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

At the Skegness Academy, the sequencing of the Spanish curriculum is primarily guided by LDP (Language Driven Pedagogy) schemes of learning, which are built around the most high-frequency grammatical and lexical features of the Spanish language.

The rationale of the curriculum aims to promote students’ fluency in being able to communicate using the most common verbs and vocabulary, which means they can cover a wide variety of topics using the same language. At the same time, we are careful not to cognitively overwhelm students and so introduce grammatical components incrementally. In Year 7, a reduced paradigm of "ser" and "estar" is taught in term one, and then plural forms are introduced from term 2 onwards.

The power of the infinitive verb form is fully exploited from Year 7 onwards, allowing for consolidation but also for the development into double verb constructions for opinions and the near future by Year 8. Adjectival agreement and differing word order are also introduced early in the course. Interleaving of high frequency grammar and vocabulary takes place throughout Key Stage 3.

Students’ learning is well-supported through booklets and knowledge organisers. Every lesson follows the same routine of 'I do, We do, You do' and includes retrieval practice, phonics and grammar instruction, paired or group speaking practice, whole class questioning and independent writing tasks where appropriate. We encourage students to use Spanish in greetings and classroom language to build confidence and a relaxed yet purposeful environment. We also believe it is important to teach the culture of the Spanish-speaking world and include cross-curricular topics such as Day of the Dead, Shakira, the Amazon rainforest and Spanish football.

We aim to help students feel confident in speaking a second language and enjoying it, putting them  on the path to a happy, successful and fulfilling life.