Curriculum Intent

Learning a foreign language is an essential life skill. As well as making travel more enjoyable and easier, it will enable students to experience another culture and make new friends.  Knowledge of a language increases chances of employment as well as earning potential and opens our mind to new ideas. It is an enriching experience.

 

At Key Stage 3, we aim to make language-learning fun, relevant and accessible to all through games and communicative activities.  Students will feel confident about using everyday Spanish both at home and abroad by the end of Year 9 and will feel proud of their achievements. At Key Stage 4 our key aim is to further develop the linguistic skills of comprehension and expression, both written and spoken and to further extend students’ knowledge of the countries where the language is spoken, their way of life, culture and general civilisation. At A-level the skills acquired at Key Stage 4 are carefully honed and developed, to produce fluent speakers of the foreign language with a keen interest and understanding of their culture.

 

Key Stage 3

Year 8	Year 8
Greetings, Name, age, birthday Alphabet & Numbers Classroom, school, subjects, teachers, opinions Times, days, months Colours & adjectives Family members, describing people – physical, skin, hair, eyes & animals House, bedroom, town, country, nationality Leisure time activity & sport Relevant grammar eg “the/a/some”, present tense verbs, adjective formation, possessives Film study - Carlitos	Review of personal information and leisure activities Simple future tense TV & cinema and going out with friends Complex verb structures, comparatives & superlatives Past tense Transport & holidays GCSE style speaking tests Food & restaurant Clothes Body & health Film study – Voces Inocentes

 

Key Stage 3 assessment

• At the end of each unit, the students are formally assessed in 2 or more skills (listening, reading, writing, translation, speaking)

 

Key Stage 4

AQA GCSE Spanish 8698

Year 10	Year 11
Family and social relationships Technology in society Food & Leisure Spanish culture & events Home, region and environment Relevant grammar eg present tense, present continuous, preterite, imperfect, perfect, immediate future, simple future and conditional verbs, adjective formation, possessives	Health & well-being Social issues Global matters Holidays & tourism Work, school & future study

 

Key Stage 4 assessment

• At the end of each unit, the students are formally assessed in 2 or more skills (listening, reading, writing, translation, speaking)
• During the mock exams in June of Year 10 and November of Year 11, students are assessed in all skills

 

Key Stage 5

AQA Spanish 7692

Year 12	Year 13
Aspects of Hispanic Society: Modern and traditional values   Cyberspace    Equal Rights    Artistic Culture in the Hispanic World: Modern day idols    Spanish regional identity  Cultural heritage     Film - Volver	Multiculturalism in Hispanic Society Immigration, racism and integration. Aspects of Political Life in the Hispanic World Today’s youth, monarchies and dictatorships and social movements. Play – La Casa de Bernarda Alba

 

Key Stage 5 assessment

• In Year 12, the students are assessed using the class tests in February and the UCAS prediction exams in June in all skills (speaking is only assessed in June)
• In Year 13, the students are assessed during the mock exams in January in all skills (speaking takes place later in March)
• Furthermore, the students are regularly assessed in class in vocabulary and grammar.
• Essays are regularly set.

 

Curriculum enrichment outside of the classroom

• Lunchtime support sessions
• Film club
• Celebration of European Day for languages
• Language study trips to Spain
• Use of languages assistants in all three languages
• Day trips to the BFI and Goethe Institute
• Language plays in school
• Opportunity for students to purchase language magazines