International Spanish School

Parkwood teaches Spanish to all pupils, from Nursery to Year 6. Nursery and Reception learn Spanish through songs, naming shapes, numbers and basic language.

Key Stage 1 build on the simple vocabulary and Key Stage 2 develop their language skills further.

We have a specialist Spanish teacher working with pupils and class teachers to deliver an exciting curriculum across the school. We also celebrate all things Hispanic in a special week once a year. This includes a Spanish Fiesta for pupils to help raise funds for the school.

In addition to offering Spanish lessons to all classes year 1-6 have Spanish-Art lessons once a week. These link the thematic learning that takes place in the classroom to art and Spanish. We make these links to allow children the opportunity to apply their Spanish skills across a range of contexts.

Spanish Residential

Pupils also have a chance to work with classes in other countries through Skype and have pupils from local secondary schools visit to share learning.

At Parkwood we work to develop our understanding of Spanish so that in Year 5 pupils have the opportunity to take part in a residential trip to Spain to practise what they have learned in a real world setting.

They spend time in a Spanish primary school and take part in other activities. These include visiting a local bakery, where they learn to bake bread and muffins, and they eating at restaurants where they use their Spanish to order meals. This is a fantastic experience for all pupils and we encourage all pupils to take part in this.

Accreditation and Awards

We were awarded the Hackney Gold Award for Outstanding Spanish Provision. We were the first school in Hackney to achieve this and we are very proud of the way we embed languages into our everyday learning. 

We also gained the British Council's International Award for the quality and breadth of international learning that takes place at Parkwood.

We are extremely proud to be the first school in England to be accredited as a Spanish International School. This is in recognition of the work we have done to develop international learning, with specific reference to integrating Spanish into our learning. We feel it is important to give our pupils a wide and varied experience of the world. We do this in many ways at Parkwood, including exploring the Spanish language and Hispanic culture.