Teaching Programme (BASE) — Foreign Language: English · Year 6 of Primary Education · Region of Madrid

Introduction and rationale

Learning English in Year 6 carries a special weight: it is the end of Primary Education, the moment when pupils consolidate an A2 profile and prepare to move on to Secondary as autonomous, plurilingual communicators. This programme for the Foreign Language: English area understands the language not as a body of content to be memorised but as a tool for meaningful action: pupils do things with English, take part in real exchanges and reflect on their own learning.

The communicative and action-oriented approach of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR, Council of Europe) is the backbone of every decision. Pupils are treated as social agents who mobilise their whole plurilingual repertoire (in the sense of Cummins) to comprehend, produce, interact and mediate. This is operationalised through task-based learning (Willis, Ellis, Nunan): each unit is a task-based challenge with an observable final product that gives purpose to the language and turns assessment into a natural by-product of doing.

Twelve such challenges thread the year together in an outward journey "me → my surroundings → the wider world", from the opening All about me poster to the closing end-of-year drama show and moving-on portfolio. Along the way pupils design a healthy café menu, audio-guide their neighbourhood, build wildlife fact files (CLIL, Coyle, Hood & Marsh), plan a virtual trip to the UK and launch an eco-campaign. TPR (Asher), storytelling (Halliwell, Cameron), cooperative roles (Kagan) and rich, comprehensible input (Krashen, Long) keep the affective filter low and participation high.

This action-oriented design rests on a solid legal and pedagogical grounding. The LOMLOE (Organic Law 3/2020) establishes a competence-based curriculum and a common exit profile; Royal Decree 157/2022 and Decree 61/2022 of the Region of Madrid define the six specific competences, assessment criteria and basic knowledge of the area, assessed under Order 130/2023; Decree 32/2019 frames inclusion. Universal Design for Learning (CAST) ensures that the diverse Year 6 class — including pupils with ADHD, ASD level 1 and a newly-arrived plurilingual learner — accesses every challenge.

The result is a coherent, realistic and inclusive programme in which English becomes a living vehicle for communication, intercultural respect and personal growth at the close of the stage.

Legal and regulatory framework

This programme is anchored in a coherent hierarchy of norms that runs from the basic state legislation to the curricular and assessment regulations of the Region of Madrid, complemented by the European frameworks proper to language teaching.

At the apex stands Organic Law 2/2006 (LOE), as amended by the LOMLOE (Organic Law 3/2020, of 29 December), which establishes a competence-based model organised around key competences and a common exit profile for the end of Primary, together with principles of inclusion, equity and personalised attention. From it derives Royal Decree 157/2022, of 1 March (minimum Primary curriculum), which sets, for the Foreign Language area, the six specific competences (comprehension, production, interaction, mediation, plurilingual repertoire and interculturality), their assessment criteria and the basic knowledge (saberes básicos) in blocks A–C.

In the regional sphere, Decree 61/2022, of 13 July (Primary curriculum of the Region of Madrid) develops and contextualises that curriculum, providing the numbered assessment criteria of the English area that articulate every UDP. Assessment itself follows Order 130/2023 (assessment in Primary Education in Madrid): continuous, formative and criterion-referenced, expressed through the assessment criteria and reported on the official documents. Inclusion and a positive climate are governed by Decree 32/2019 (framework for coexistence and inclusion in Madrid), which underpins the UDL (CAST) measures for the class.

The teaching of the area draws, finally, on two Council of Europe instruments: the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), which defines the action-oriented approach and the A2 level targeted in Year 6, and the European Language Portfolio, a tool for self-assessment, autonomy and plurilingual awareness that materialises here in can-do descriptors and the moving-on portfolio.

This framework is not a backdrop but the operative grammar of every unit: each task-based challenge realises specific competences, mobilises basic knowledge and is assessed by criteria, in full coherence with Madrid's regulations.

Context

The school. This programme is delivered in a two-form-entry state primary school (CEIP) located in a town in the south of the Region of Madrid, within the DAT Madrid-Sur (Territorial Directorate). It is a semi-urban setting with growing cultural and linguistic diversity, reflected in a school population of varied family backgrounds and home languages. The centre has its own educational project, an annual general plan and a diversity and coexistence plan aligned with Decree 32/2019, all of which frame the inclusive, intercultural orientation of the English area.

For the teaching of English the school offers favourable conditions. There is a dedicated English classroom/corner equipped with a digital board, used for audio, video, interactive flashcards and pupils' own digital products. The corner houses a classroom library of graded readers and big books that sustains the storytelling and extensive-reading strands, alongside a bank of flashcards and realia for vocabulary, TPR and role-play. The teacher also has timetabled access to the ICT room, which enables the digital-citizenship and project tasks (the trip-to-the-UK plan, the eco-campaign posters, the tutorials). English is timetabled at roughly three sessions per week (around ninety a year), distributed across the twelve task-based units.

The Year 6 class. The group comprises approximately twenty-five pupils at the end of the stage, with a wide range of English levels, from an emerging A1 to a confident A2, and a positive but heterogeneous disposition towards the language. The class mirrors the centre's diversity and includes several cases of specific support, attended to naturally through Universal Design for Learning (CAST) rather than as a separate plan:

• One pupil with ADHD, who benefits from clear structure, anticipation of the lesson sequence, short varied tasks and an active role within cooperative groups.
• One pupil with ASD (level 1), supported through visual anticipation (timetables, task cards), opportunities for sensory regulation and scaffolding in social-communicative tasks and role-plays.
• One newly-arrived pupil with emerging Spanish and very little English, supported by plurilingual scaffolding, L1 bridging (in the sense of Cummins) and structured peer support.

Attention is also paid to gender equity and balanced participation, ensuring that all voices are heard in pair and group work. These profiles are not anecdotal: they recur consistently in the attention-to-diversity decisions and in the adaptations, roles and resources of the units where they are most relevant, so that every task-based challenge remains genuinely accessible to the whole class while sustaining a demanding, communicative and intercultural English programme.

Key competences and specific competences

The LOMLOE (Organic Law 3/2020, amending the LOE) frames learning around the exit profile of Primary Education, articulated through eight key competences and their operational descriptors: Linguistic Communication (CCL), Plurilingual (CP), Mathematical and STEM (STEM), Digital (CD), Personal, Social and Learning-to-Learn (CPSAA), Citizenship (CC), Entrepreneurship (CE) and Cultural Awareness and Expression (CCEC). The English area, as set out in Royal Decree 157/2022 and Decree 61/2022 of the Region of Madrid, contributes most directly to CP and CCL, since learning an additional language widens the pupil's communicative repertoire, but it also nurtures CD (multimodal texts, safe digital interaction), CPSAA (learning strategies, self-assessment, error as growth), CC and CCEC (intercultural respect, British and global cultural references) and, through CLIL and project work, STEM and CE.

The six specific competences of the Foreign Language area

The area is structured around six specific competences, each linked to operational descriptors of the exit profile:

• SC1 Comprehension — understand and interpret oral, written and multimodal texts, drawing on context and prior knowledge.
• SC2 Production — produce simple, coherent oral, written and multimodal texts using planning and revision strategies.
• SC3 Interaction — take part in everyday exchanges applying courtesy, turn-taking and cooperation strategies.
• SC4 Mediation — process and convey simple information between languages and people in everyday situations.
• SC5 Plurilingual repertoire — use and value the strategies of one's own plurilingual repertoire, transferring across languages.
• SC6 Interculturality — appreciate linguistic and cultural diversity, identifying and rejecting discrimination and stereotypes.

By the end of Year 6 these competences target broadly A2 of the CEFR (Council of Europe), the reference for the action-oriented approach underpinning the curriculum.

Mapping specific to key competences

This network ensures that every English task simultaneously advances the area's competences and the broader exit profile, so that linguistic learning is never isolated but woven into the pupil's full personal, social and civic development.

Basic knowledge

The basic knowledge (saberes básicos) of the English area, as established in Royal Decree 157/2022 and Decree 61/2022 of the Region of Madrid, is organised in three blocks that are mobilised together, never in isolation. In Year 6, end of the third cycle, they target broadly A2 of the CEFR (Council of Europe).

Block A. Communication

The core block: communicative functions (describing, narrating in the past, expressing routines, ability, obligation, future plans, opinions and feelings); comprehension, production, interaction and mediation strategies; everyday vocabulary fields; grammar in use (past simple and continuous, present simple/continuous, comparatives and superlatives, modals, going to/will, first conditional); phonetics, rhythm and intonation; and a range of oral, written and multimodal genres (posters, surveys, fact files, stories, campaigns, simple guides).

Block B. Plurilingualism

Metalinguistic and learning-to-learn strategies: comparing English with the pupils' languages, transferring strategies, using the plurilingual repertoire, dictionaries and self-assessment, and treating error as a natural part of learning, in line with Cummins's transfer principle.

Block C. Interculturality

Cultural patterns of English-speaking countries, courtesy conventions, appreciation of linguistic and cultural diversity, and the active rejection of stereotypes and discrimination.

Distribution across the 12 UDP

Blocks B and C are cross-cutting, present in every unit through plurilingual scaffolding and intercultural reflection, while Block A supplies the specific language each task demands. The closing UDP12 integrates all three, consolidating the A2 profile before transition to Secondary.

Methodology

The methodology rests on the communicative, action-oriented approach of the CEFR (Council of Europe): pupils are social agents who use English to carry out meaningful tasks. This vision is embodied in task-based learning (TBL), following Willis's pre-task → task cycle → language focus framework, Ellis's distinction between focused and unfocused tasks, and Nunan's pedagogic task design. Each of the twelve UDP is a learning situation built around an authentic final product (poster, survey, menu, audio guide, fact file, story, campaign, drama show), giving purpose to every session and ensuring real language use over mechanical drilling.

Pedagogical principles and models

Comprehensible input and a low affective filter (Krashen) are secured through visuals, gesture and graded language, while negotiation of meaning in pair and group work draws on Long's interaction hypothesis. Total Physical Response (Asher) links language to movement in warm-ups and vocabulary work, especially valuable for the newly-arrived pupil and for kinaesthetic learners. Storytelling (Halliwell, Cameron; Brewster, Ellis & Girard) anchors UDP10 and recurs as big books and narrative routines, exploiting children's tolerance of ambiguity and love of imagination. CLIL (Coyle, Hood & Marsh; the 4Cs of content, communication, cognition and culture) underpins UDP5 (Science) and UDP7 (culture), integrating subject content with language. Cooperative learning (Kagan structures such as Round Robin, Numbered Heads, Rally Coach) distributes participation and assigns clear roles.

English as the vehicular language and lesson sequence

English is the vehicular language of the classroom, supported by routines, classroom language, gesture and visual anticipation so that meaning is never lost. Each session follows a clear sequence: warm-up/lead-in (activating prior knowledge, TPR, review), main communicative tasks (the core task cycle with information gaps, role-plays and cooperative production), and wrap-up/reflection (consolidation, self-assessment and metacognition). Groupings alternate between whole-class, pairs and heterogeneous teams to maximise interaction; classroom management uses signals, timers and visible routines, and a deliberate effort to maximise speaking time by reducing teacher talk, increasing wait time and using simultaneous pair production.

Plurilingual approach and Universal Design for Learning

A plurilingual approach (Cummins's BICS/CALP and cross-linguistic transfer) values the pupils' whole linguistic repertoire, bridging from Spanish and home languages, treating error as evidence of progress and encouraging comparison across languages. Universal Design for Learning (CAST) guides inclusive planning through multiple means of representation, action/expression and engagement: visual anticipation and sensory regulation for the pupil with ASD (level 1); structure, chunking and an active role for the pupil with ADHD; L1 bridging, peer support and graded tasks for the newly-arrived pupil; and tiered challenges across the A1–A2 range, with attention to gender equity and balanced participation. This combination makes the English classroom communicative, inclusive and grounded in Decree 61/2022 and the Madrid framework for inclusion (Decree 32/2019).

Units of Didactic Programming (UDP): overview

This programme is structured around twelve Units of Didactic Programming (UDP), the minimum required by the Region of Madrid, where each UDP is a task-based learning situation closing with an observable, communicative final product. Following Willis, Ellis and Nunan, learning is organised towards meaning: pupils mobilise the basic knowledge of the English area (Decree 61/2022) to do something real with the language, and grammar and vocabulary serve the task, never taught in isolation.

The sequence follows an outward journey suited to the end of the third cycle: from me (identity, daily life), to my surroundings (food, town, animals, jobs, health), and on to the wider world (British culture, technology, stories, sustainability, transition to Secondary). This supports intercultural competence and the move towards the A2 level of the CEFR targeted in Year 6, respecting the affective filter (Krashen) with a meaningful, low-anxiety progression.

The UDP are distributed across the three terms in line with the roughly three weekly sessions (~90 sessions/year), the closing unit lighter. Each UDP keeps the same five fields: (1) specific competences and assessment criteria; (2) basic knowledge (knowledge, skills, attitudes); (3) the learning situation and timed task sequence with UDL adaptations; (4) own and school resources; and (5) competence-based assessment instruments.

Assessment

Assessment here is competence-based, criterion-referenced and continuous, as set out in Order 130/2023 (assessment in Primary Education in Madrid) and Decree 61/2022. We do not test isolated grammar: we assess what pupils can do with English in real communicative situations, taking the assessment criteria of the Foreign Language area as the reference, each linked to its specific competence (comprehension, production, interaction, mediation, plurilingual repertoire, interculturality). Evidence is gathered through the final products of the twelve UDP and graded against A1–A2 can-do indicators, in line with the CEFR.

Assessment operates in three moments. Initial assessment, at the start of the year and each UDP, activates prior knowledge and detects the level range (emerging A1 to confident A2), informing scaffolding and grouping. Formative assessment, the backbone of the model, runs throughout each task through observation, oral and written feedback and assessment for learning, making pupils protagonists of their progress via self- and peer-assessment. Summative assessment, at the close of each UDP and term, weighs the final products and competence attainment, never a single exam.

The instruments are varied, communicative and aligned with the five language skills, so that no pupil is judged by one task type alone.

Marking criteria distribute the term mark across the UDP products by competence (oral and written comprehension and production, interaction/mediation, plus plurilingual–intercultural attitudes), weighting oral communication and process strongly, as befits a foreign language at the end of the stage. Each rubric criterion converts achievement into the qualitative scale of Order 130/2023. Promotion is decided collegially by the teaching team, considering global progress and attainment of the exit profile (LOMLOE), with English assessed for communicative competence rather than formal accuracy.

Finally, the model is reflexive: the assessment of teaching practice and of the programme itself is built in through teacher self-review after each UDP (task effectiveness, timing, inclusion), pupil feedback and department coordination, generating improvement proposals that feed back into the following year's planning.

Attention to diversity and inclusion

Attention to diversity is a structural principle of this programme, framed by Decree 32/2019 (coexistence and inclusion in Madrid) and built into every UDP through Universal Design for Learning (UDL, CAST). Rather than bolt-on adaptations, each task-based situation offers from the outset multiple means of representation, action/expression and engagement: visual and auditory input, choices of final product (poster, audio, drama, written text) and varied ways to participate, so the same task includes the whole class.

Tasks are deliberately multilevel and scaffolded. As the group ranges from emerging A1 to confident A2, activities have a common core and graded extensions: sentence frames, word banks, model texts and picture support for those who need it, and open, creative challenges for the most advanced. Scaffolding (visuals, modelling, TPR, cooperative roles) is withdrawn as autonomy grows, protecting comprehensible input and a low affective filter (Krashen) so anxiety does not block production. Errors are a natural part of learning.

The specific-support cases of the class are addressed coherently. The pupil with ADHD is given structure, clear anticipation of each task, shorter steps and an active, movement-friendly role (handing out cards, leading a TPR routine). The pupil with ASD level 1 benefits from visual schedules and anticipation, sensory regulation, predictable routines and explicit support in the social-communicative parts of tasks (turn-taking cards, modelled dialogues). The newly-arrived pupil with emerging Spanish and very little English receives plurilingual scaffolding and L1 bridging (Cummins): comparing words across languages, bilingual labels, visual dictionaries and a peer "language buddy", valuing the whole plurilingual repertoire and transferring CALP skills already held in other languages.

Cooperative, inclusive groupings (Kagan structures) underpin the response: heterogeneous teams with assigned roles ensure every pupil contributes and that more competent peers act as natural scaffolds, while interaction (Long) multiplies meaningful exchange. Groupings are flexible and rotate to avoid fixed labels.

The programme also embeds gender equity and the rejection of discrimination (intercultural competence): balanced participation in oral tasks, non-stereotyped roles and materials, equal access to leadership in projects, and content (UDP on jobs, on the wider world) that questions stereotypes and values diversity. Affective wellbeing is cared for through a positive classroom climate, achievable challenges and praise of effort, so the English class is a safe space to take risks with the language.

In short, attention to diversity here is proactive and ordinary: inclusion is designed into the tasks, scaffolding, groupings and assessment, ensuring the whole class, with its specific cases, can progress towards A2 communicative competence.

Resources and spaces

Resources are at the service of communication and of the task-based units. A meaningful, multimodal environment maximises comprehensible input (Krashen) and lowers the affective filter, while realia and a print-rich English corner make English visible across the school day. The following inventory distinguishes the teacher's own resources from those provided by the school.

Human resources. The English teacher plans, delivers and assesses the programme and coordinates with the cycle and Year 6 tutors, the support team (PT/AL) and the counselling department for the pupils with ADHD, ASD (level 1) and the newly-arrived pupil. Where the school takes part in the regional language assistant programme, the assistant enriches oral input and intercultural exchange. Coordination with families completes the network.

Spaces. The English classroom/corner (digital board, classroom library) is the main base; the ICT room supports digital products (vlogs, posters, tutorials); the library offers extensive reading; and the hall or playground hosts TPR, drama and the end-of-year show.

Materials. Conventional materials (readers, flashcards, dictionaries) combine with realia and recycled items that anchor vocabulary in real contexts. Teacher-made task cards, role cards, picture supports and can-do self-assessment sheets ensure accessibility (UDL).

Digital resources. The digital board, age-appropriate apps, audio/video and online dictionaries provide multimodal input and motivating final products, always with safe, supervised use.

Conclusion

This programme sets out a coherent, realistic plan for the Foreign Language: English area in Year 6, the end of the Primary stage. Its twelve task-based Units of Didactic Programming form a single outward journey, from the pupils themselves to their surroundings and the wider world, so that every grammatical and lexical choice serves a genuine communicative purpose and an observable final product. Built on the action-oriented approach of the CEFR and on task-based learning (Willis, Ellis, Nunan), enriched by TPR (Asher), storytelling, CLIL (Coyle, Hood & Marsh) and cooperative roles (Kagan), it pursues the area's six specific competences and the A2 horizon set by Royal Decree 157/2022 and Decree 61/2022 of the Region of Madrid.

The document grows the pupils' plurilingual and intercultural profile: it values their whole linguistic repertoire (Cummins), welcomes error as part of learning and rejects every form of discrimination. Inclusion is woven throughout by means of UDL, with consistent attention to the pupils with ADHD and ASD (level 1) and to the newly-arrived learner, so that no child is left at the margin of communication.

Above all, this is a living, flexible tool: a planned route, not a fixed script. Continuous assessment (Order 130/2023) and reflective practice will adjust pace, scaffolding and tasks to the real group.

Learning English opens doors to knowledge, mobility and encounter with others. As these pupils close the Primary stage and move on to Secondary Education, they carry not only an emerging A2 competence but the confidence, curiosity and learner autonomy to keep growing as plurilingual, open-minded citizens.

Bibliography and references

The following sources underpin the legal, scientific and methodological design of this programme.

Regulations

• Organic Law 2/2006 (LOE), as amended by Organic Law 3/2020 (LOMLOE).
• Royal Decree 157/2022, of 1 March, establishing the organisation and minimum requirements of Primary Education.
• Decree 61/2022, of 13 July, of the Region of Madrid, establishing the Primary curriculum (Foreign Language area).
• Order 130/2023 of the Region of Madrid, on the assessment of Primary Education.
• Decree 32/2019, of the Region of Madrid, framework for coexistence and inclusion.

References

• Council of Europe (2001, 2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
• Krashen, S. The Input Hypothesis; affective filter and comprehensible input.
• Cummins, J. BICS/CALP and plurilingual transfer.
• Willis, J.; Ellis, R.; Nunan, D. Task-based language learning and teaching.
• Asher, J. Total Physical Response (TPR).
• Halliwell, S. Teaching English in the Primary Classroom.
• Cameron, L. Teaching Languages to Young Learners.
• Brewster, J., Ellis, G. & Girard, D. The Primary English Teacher's Guide.
• Coyle, D., Hood, P. & Marsh, D. CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning.
• Kagan, S. Cooperative Learning.

Resources and webography

• Council of Europe — CEFR and European Language Portfolio: www.coe.int/lang.
• CAST, Universal Design for Learning guidelines: www.cast.org.
• Region of Madrid, education portal: www.comunidad.madrid/servicios/educacion.
• British Council — LearnEnglish Kids (EFL resources): learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org.