Welcome to Spanish – Years 3 and 4

¡Hola y bienvenidos! Welcome to Spanish in Years 3 and 4!

Our Spanish lessons are designed to introduce children to the joy of learning a new language in a fun, engaging and supportive way. At this stage of their language-learning journey, children are building the foundations that will help them become confident Spanish speakers in the future.

In Years 3 and 4, our main focus is developing children’s listening and speaking skills. Learning a language begins with hearing new sounds, recognising patterns, experimenting with pronunciation and gaining the confidence to use new words and phrases aloud. For this reason, you may notice that children do not always have lots of written activities recorded in their Spanish books. Please be reassured — this does not mean that they haven’t been working hard!

Our classroom is always full of learning. Children take part in a wide range of activities including songs, conversations, role play, actions, games, team challenges and interactive tasks. These activities help them practise Spanish naturally while developing their confidence and enjoyment of the language. As their knowledge grows, children will also complete written activities to help them recognise, spell and build sentences in Spanish.

Learning a language is also about discovering the wider world. Throughout the year, children will explore aspects of life and culture in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. We will learn about traditions, celebrations, music, geography and everyday life, helping children develop curiosity and appreciation for different cultures.

At St Richard’s, we don’t just teach Spanish — we encourage children to become curious, enthusiastic learners who are excited about languages and the world around them. We believe that every culture and language has something special to share. If your child would like to share something connected to their own culture or language, such as a tradition, celebration, special event or experience, we would love to hear about it and share this learning with the rest of the class. Please feel free to let me know by contacting me at office@strichardsprimary.co.uk.

Whenever possible, I will share links to games and activities that children can use at home to practise what they have learnt in class. These can be a wonderful way to revisit vocabulary and have fun with Spanish outside school. However, I completely understand that children already spend a lot of time using devices, so these activities are optional. Please feel free to decide what works best for your family and to support a healthy balance with screen time.

My biggest aim is for children to leave each Spanish lesson feeling proud, successful and excited about learning languages. Every song they sing, every new word they try and every conversation they attempt is an important step forward.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about your child’s Spanish learning, please do not hesitate to come and speak to me. I am always happy to help and support you and your child on their language-learning journey.

¡Gracias!

I look forward to another wonderful year of Spanish learning together.

Ms Nuria Molina-Rivas