Spanish

Faculty of MFL

Staff

Miss S Cheung – Head of Faculty

Mr Chambers – Teacher of French and Spanish

Miss X Gao – Teacher of Chinese and French

Ms Aoife O’Connor – Teacher of French & Spanish

Ethos

Learning foreign languages is increasingly important in a global economy and also has great value in terms of cultural and linguistic richness in our society, personal fulfilment and global citizenship and understanding. Through the study of a foreign language pupils understand and appreciate different countries, cultures, peoples and communities - and as they do, begin to think of themselves as citizens of the World as well as citizens of the United Kingdom.

Aims

The department aims to provide engaging and challenging experiences with high expectations of achievement that will:

foster an enjoyment of language learning
develop the ability to understand and use the foreign language effectively in study, work and leisure
promote understanding and appreciation of other cultures and lifestyles in other countries
encourage pride in linguistic achievement

KS3 Curriculum 2017-2018

Year 7

The year group is split into two groups. One group will study French and the other group will study Spanish. All pupils follow the KS3 National Curriculum.

In year 7 teaching focusses on pupils' competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing, based on a sound foundation of core grammar and vocabulary enabling them to understand and communicate personal and factual information.

Y7 Spanish Pupil SoW Exercise Book Insert

Year 8

In year 8 pupils continue to study the Language they studied in Year 7, developing further their competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing which will enable them to understand and communicate personal and factual information beyond their immediate needs and interests.

Yr8 Spanish SoW Pupil Exercise Book Insert

KS4 Curriculum 2017-2018

Year 9, 10 & 11

In Year 9 pupils opt to take a modern foreign language, choosing from French, Spanish, Italian or Chinese. Pupils are also encouraged to sit examinations in their first language whenever possible. Over the last few years examination results have also been achieved at the highest levels in Urdu, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, Farsi and Polish.

All pupils follow the GCSE AQA Course.

Yr9 Spanish Pupil SoW Exercise Book Insert

Themes and topics

Questions across all four language skills are set in common contexts, addressing a range of
relevant contemporary and cultural themes. They are organised into three themes, each
broken down into topics and sub-topics.

The three themes are:

Identity and Culture
The UK and the World – areas of interest
Current and Future Studies and Employment

Assessment

The GCSE (9-1) in Spanish consists of four externally examined papers based on the following skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will complete their speaking assessment in May and all other assessments in May/June at the end of Year 11. GCSE Spanish has a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series.

	Paper 1: Listening and understanding	Paper 2: Speaking	Paper 3: Reading and understanding	Paper 4: Writing
Percentage of total GCSE	25%	25%	25%	25%
Assessment Type	Written exam	Internally conducted and externally assessed	Written exam	Written exam
Foundation Tier	35 minutes including 5 minutes’ reading time	7–9 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time	45 minutes	1 hour
Higher Tier	45 minutes including 5 minutes’ reading time	10–12 minutes plus 12 minutes’ preparation time	1 hour	1 hour 15 minutes
Brief Description	Listening comprehension tasks with non-verbal and written responses	This unit requires learners to communicate orally in Spanish by participating in a role play, a photo card discussion and a conversation. Assessment of this unit will also take account of knowledge of, and accurate application of, grammar and structures. The three broad themes will be covered across all of the tasks.	This unit requires learners to respond to a range of questions in English and also in Spanish.	This unit requires learners to be able to communicate effectively for a variety of responses.

Further Details