Learning a language at Lliswerry

Learning languages at Lliswerry will be fun and interesting. We have an excellent team who work hard to make sure that you progress and enjoy your time in the team. As you will see from our staff description, we all have varied roles, so even if we don’t teach you a language, we may see you in other lessons!

What will I learn?

As a new member of Year 7 next September, you will learn Spanish and Welsh. If you need some support with your English language skills as a new to English learner, you may spend some time with our Language Acquisition team to ensure you are a confident learner, able to make good progress when you join your form group for lessons across the school.

Spanish

In Spanish, you have the amazing opportunity to have a fresh start with a new subject. We spend the first term learning how to introduce yourself and talk about what sort of person you are. You will find you are quickly able to answer simple questions and get to grips with easy Spanish pronunciation. The rest of Year 7 is spent on topics such as free time activities, sport, school and food and drink. Definitely some useful vocabulary if you are lucky enough to be able to visit any Spanish speaking countries! As we progress through Year 8 and 9, we look at topics such as holidays, health, the environment and issues affecting young people which enable us to demonstrate our higher level language skills. Our lessons are structured to cover most skills in each lesson, undertaking listening, speaking, reading and writing tasks. You will be supported every step of the way and you will find the fast pace of the lessons engaging and motivating. All of our text books are online packages with videos, games and listening activities and we also subscribe to Linguascope which is an online language learning package using games to help you to progress.

Welsh

Cymraeg lessons in Lliswerry focus on developing your confidence and ability to speak, listen, read and write in Cymraeg. Together, we will build on your learning from primary school, and begin in Year 7 by speaking and writing following the year 6 placemat. Then, we research and present information about famous people from Cymru, write a book review on a short story and discover music, television and films available in Cymraeg. In year 8 and 9, we study poetry, discuss and express opinions on technology, role play being in a food environment and look at Cymru as a place to live and as a holiday destination. Everyone who studies Cymraeg in Key Stage 3 will be entered for a GCSE qualification in Cymraeg and will study to complete this course in year 10 and 11. We look forward to teaching you, ensuring you have a positive attitude to learning Cymraeg and help you to achieve your potential throughout your time at our school. There are many exciting opportunities to take part in extra Cymraeg events and activities outside of your classroom, such as Criw Cymraeg, Eisteddfod, trips to the Urdd Centres at Llangrannog or Glan-llyn and celebrating special days like Dydd Gŵyl Dewi, Dydd Miwsig Cymru and Diwrnod Shwmae.

Language Acquisition

Our main responsibility is to welcome and support learners who are new to English, develop their English language skills as well as their transferrable skills and confidence. We develop and monitor our pupils’ academic progress and aim for them to become independent, creative and resilient individuals. Our language acquisition classes are the foundation of the growth of all the above skills and attitudes. We work closely with various outside agencies and organisations including GEMS (Gwent Ethnic Minority Support) to guarantee our pupils’ smooth transition into a new country, new school environment and into mainstream classes. We liaise with parents, carers, feeder primary schools, help with translations, create differentiated resources, provide in class support and deliver pastoral care for learners as well as for our wider community. In KS3, we study a wide variety of topics to engage and motivate learners in their journey to learn English. The topics include travel, space, talking about yourself, festivals, religions and Romeo and Juliet. At KS4, the learners have the opportunity of achieving the SWEET qualification through study of the topics of Community, Global Citizenship, Enterprise and Employability, Personal Identify, Managing Relationships, Healthy Lifestyle and Money Matters.