The vision of the Spanish curriculum is to ignite a passion for language learning. Our curriculum not only exposes our students to learn a new language but also inspires them to become immersed in new cultures of Spain and other Spanish speaking countries. We believe that learning to communicate in an additional language is a valuable life skill that will develop our students to become responsible global citizens. We aim to provide students with the foundations for learning further languages, helping to give them the opportunity to study abroad and open up a range of employment opportunities for them.

The curriculum develops our students’ competencies in listening, reading, writing and speaking. This provides students with the skills and knowledge they require in Spanish to express and justify their ideas across a wide range of topics. Our curriculum also provides students with opportunities to use their linguistic abilities for practical purposes, such as typical interactions they may need when meeting a new person. Students will learn the relevant vocabulary as well as speaking and listening practice needed for successful interactions while visiting Spanish speaking countries. The curriculum creates compassionate and reflective learners who are aware of the importance of fully understanding our own language on a deeper level and recognising the transferable skills that an additional language learning gives us. We focus on the development of grammatical constructions as the skill to unlock Spanish because this is the most transferable element of language learning and can be used to support all language acquisition

Learning a language is not simply the ability to communicate in another language; it also provides opportunities to develop wider skills useful for a successful life such as an appreciation and understanding of other cultures, confidence in public speaking, communication, team work, resilience, creative thinking and problem-solving.

Every student in Key Stage 3 will study Spanish and have the opportunity to choose Spanish as an option subject at Key Stage 4. As a school, we also recognise and value our student’s “Home Languages”. Students are supported in GCSE qualifications in Polish, French, Bengali, Urdu and Arabic.

KEY STAGE 3

Our students often begin their Year 7 studies with limited prior knowledge of the Spanish language; therefore, we aim to build on their prior knowledge of phonics and grammar rules (that they learn in Literacy) to develop foundational skills and expertise in Spanish (such as; how to conjugate present tense verbs in first person, how to use the correct adjective agreements and sentence structures). Our students also develop conversational language, by using opinion phrases to write and talk about themselves and those around them. Our students explore a diverse range of topics (including, greetings, hobbies, food and technology) whilst also tackling sequentially more complex grammar. Grammatical knowledge is essential for effective language learning and as such, throughout Key Stage 3, students are taught to recognise and use the present, past and future tenses as well as comparative sentences. This enables our students to be able to manipulate grammatical structures and use a wide range of vocabulary to express and justify their ideas about a range of topics.

KEY STAGE 4

At Key Stage 4, the curriculum builds on prior learning by revisiting many topics encountered in Key Stage 3, alongside the introduction of advanced themes such as global and social issues of climate change and poverty. Our curriculum enables students to deepen knowledge and increase linguistic and grammatical sophistication in order for them to increase their independent use and understanding of extended language in a wide range of contexts. Throughout KS4, past, present and future tenses are revisited regularly, and further tenses are introduced such as the conditional and subjunctive. Students become well equipped to communicate confidently and coherently with an increasing degree of fluency. This enables our Year 10 and Year 11 students to confidently articulate and express their thoughts and opinions on relevant and powerful topics within the three GCSE themes.

What Parents/Carers can do to help:

Your child has been given a Knowledge Organiser for each topic they study. This summarizes the key information they must know if they are to be successful in this subject. Please encourage them to learn the key words and phrases off by heart and revise topics regularly. Every student will be set homework via GCSE pod and Quizlet/flashcards. This is a vital tool to improve students’ exam skills and vocabulary retrieval.