Our department aims to equip students with the necessary skills and understanding required to learn a modern foreign language, whilst also promoting the importance of learning one.
Learning a different language has proven to promote a multitude of communication, memory and cognitive problem solving skills. Learning foreign languages improves lateral thinking, non-verbal intelligence and linguistic understanding in English. We want students to improve their self-confidence by practising speaking activities.
We deliver an engaging MFL curriculum, teaching the language skills, speaking, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar. We aim to build a sense of global citizenship and an appreciation for other countries, languages and cultures.
In the next five years students will learn the skills and knowledge required to communicate effectively and to achieve a great grade in their GCSEs.
Students will also study Spanish cultures and customs, as well as festivals, places and food, enabling them to compare each with the English equivalents.
Key Stage 3
The students in Key Stage 3 will be able to describe and present themselves in detail. They will discuss school, family and friends. They will also learn to talk about music, films and favourite series, healthy food, holidays, etc. By the end of Key Stage 3, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the programme of study.
Year 7 Spanish
Topics Covered:
Autumn
What is your name
What type of person are you
Do you have siblings/family members and numbers
When is your birthday - months/days/higher numbers
What do you like doing - opinions and present tense
What sports you do and the weather
Spring
What you study using ar verbs in all subjects
Giving opinion about school subjects
Describing the school
Talking about activities at break using-er/ir verbs
How many people are in your family
Describing hair and eye colours using ser = to be; tener = to have
Summer
What is in your city (describe your city using "a, some or many"
What do you do in your city ( just "ir"/to go) in the cafeteria (learn how to order using the verb querer)
What are you going to do (near future)
Coco movie project
Year 8 Spanish
Topics Covered:
Autumn
Talking about past holidays
What did you do on holiday
Describing the last day using sequence adverbs
How was it using verb ser in preterite
Talking about TV using comparative
What type of music I like - range of opinions
Spring
Saying what food you like using wider range of opinions
Describing meal times using negatives
Ordering a meal in a restaurant using polite pronouns usted/ustedes
Describing the family using possessive adjectives
Summer
Describing a holiday home - discovering more about the comparative
Asking for directions using the imperative
Summer camp
Year 9 Spanish
Topics Covered:
Autumn
Things that I love (saying what you like/dislike)
My week (talking about your week using present tense)
Cinema (talking about films using present tense of verb -ir/to go)
A very special birthday (talking about birthday using near future)
A disaster hotel
In what would you like to work (saying what work you would like to do)
What is a typical day? Using present and preterite together
Spring
Healthy diet (talking about diet using negative)
Talking about lifestyle
Talking about your daily routine using reflexive verbs
Talking about childrens’ lives
Talk about your rights using "poder"
Summer
Meeting and greeting people
Talking about a treasure hunt (using superlative)
Buying souvenirs using tu or usted
My last day in Madrid (using three tenses)
Key Stage 4
Through studying a GCSE in a modern foreign language, students will develop their ability and ambition to communicate with native speakers in speech and writing. The study of a modern foreign language at GCSE will also broaden students’ horizons and encourage them to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries and develop new ways of seeing the world.
Year 10 Spanish
Topics Covered:
Autumn
Daily routine and meal times - reflexive verbs
Talking about illnesses and injuries - asking for help in a pharmacy
Talking about typical foods - using quantities expressions
End of topic revision
Describing a special day - using reflexive verbs in preterite tense
Ordering in a restaurant. Using estar - to describe a temporary state. Adjectives in - ísimo/ísima
Spring
Talking about different jobs
Talking about how you earn money - working with homonyms
Describing the school using negatives and distinguishing between the present and the imperfect
Talking about languages and travel; using lo + adjectives; using the 24 hour clock
Applying for a summer job; writing a formal letter; revising the perfect tense
Summer
Discussing types of houses; talking about the environment
Talking about healthy eating/diet related health problems
Considering global issues - using the superlative
Talking about local actions to improve the area we live in using debería/deberíamos - one should/we should
Year 11 Spanish
Topics Covered:
Autumn
Talking about local actions to improve the area we live in using debería/deberíamos - one should/ we should