Spanish Masterclasses for Local Primary School Pupils

Established in February 2017, our Spanish Language and Culture Masterclasses comprise four 90-minute sessions held on Saturday mornings over the course of a half-term. Children from local primary schools explore the language and culture of Spain and Latin America.

Aims

The emphasis is developing confidence and fluency in speaking, increasing conversational skills and broadening vocabulary.  The project aims to bring together like-minded children from local primary schools to explore ideas in an exciting and innovative way.

By working with pupils from many other schools, each child's self-confidence is improved. This serves as ideal preparation for their moves onto secondary education settings.

Background

When our sibling Mathematics Masterclasses started in September 2005, demand outstripped supply almost immediately. The introduction of further subjects such as Spanish allowed us to expand the breadth of our offering as well as the number of children involved. Gradually, the Masterclasses programme has expanded from an initial dozen partner schools to the current 76.

Resources

The classes take place at Kimbolton School and are taught by native speakers. A course comprises four 90-minute sessions; one Spanish course is held each year.

The excellent teaching, commitment and enthusiasm of our staff in our Spanish Department is key to the success of these classes.

There is no charge for our Masterclasses.

Impact

We ask for, and receive, feedback from parents at the end of each course. A typical response is:

"My daughter has really enjoyed attending the Spanish Masterclass at Kimbolton School, which she has found so exciting and fun and making new friends that she wishes that it was more than just four weeks!! I would strongly recommend anyone given this fantastic opportunity to give this a go. It has definitely planted a seed for the future! Thank you."

Pupil Involvement

The pupils are drawn from Year 5 or 6 depending on which term the classes fall in.

Almost 50 local state primary pupils have attended our Spanish Masterclasses.

Frequency

One Spanish course is held each year.