‘Un idioma distinto es una vision diferente de la vida’
Federico Fellini
The Spanish Department at Ballard aims to develop a passion for language learning and to equip our pupils with the skills to be able to communicate efficiently in the foreign language.
Spanish at Ballard is taught from Year 4 up to Year 11, and lessons are delivered by specialist teachers who create a welcoming and safe learning environment. Our pupils love learning Spanish at Ballard and make excellent progress in the subject as it is evidenced by our outstanding GCSE results.
Lessons are interactive and resources are varied. We understand our pupils learn in different ways and take this into account when planning by using a variety of kinesthetic, visual, digital resources as well as other extra-curricular opportunities such as salsa lessons or churros breakfast and a trip to Spain for our Senior pupils. Technology plays an important part in language learning and our teachers and pupils are proficient in the use of OneNote and a many other digital resources are available to enhance our pupils’ learning experience. We understand the importance of teaching our pupils how to learn and there is a clear focus on developing our pupils’ revision skills. Pupils feel very motivated in lessons and our Ballard reward system and verbal praise are consistently used to recognise our pupils’ achievements.
Lower Prep
Pupils are introduced to Spanish in Year 4. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to start developing a love for language learning by engaging our pupils with a variety of fun and interactive resources, games, songs and activities whilst introducing them to the basics of the Spanish language.
Starting language learning in Year 4 enables us to have a clear focus on good pronunciation and introducing key grammatical structures from an early age. This will then be consolidated during the next steps of language learning.
Upper Prep
Pupils in Years 6 to 8 are exposed to a variety of teaching and learning resources and learning opportunities. Our pupils have digital notebooks and access to an exercise book.
We use Active Learn as our main learning resource and a variety of other interesting and fun resources. There is a clear passion for learning Spanish at this stage.
Senior
The Senior School years are a crucial stage of our pupils’ language learning as we consolidate previous knowledge and prepare our pupils for their GCSE Examination. With three lessons a week, we can ensure that the four skills, reading, listening, writing and speaking are weekly covered in lessons. Our resources continue to be varied at this stage and pupils are motivated and often refer to lessons as fun. Pupils are encouraged to participate actively in lessons and good effective revision skills with excellent revision resources are available.
Our outstanding GCSE results are a testament to the quality of the teaching. Senior pupils also have the opportunity to enjoy a trip to Valencia and picnics and visits to tapas restaurants.
