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Primary

EYFS

In the Nursery and Reception classes, students are not given direct MFL teaching, but they are exposed to other cultures and stories from around the world. When there is a Spanish themed day, they will have some involvement. Students are assessed against the early learning outcomes and specifically about knowledge and understanding of the World.

Key Stage One

In Years 1 and 2, although there is no direct teaching of Spanish, students get very involved in any Spanish themed days and have been included in Spanish activities such as flamenco dancing, Spanish stories read by Spanish speakers and Spanish music. There is no statutory requirement to teach a language in Key Stage one.

Key Stage Two

In Years 3-6, students learn Spanish meeting the statutory requirement to teach a foreign language in Key Stage 2. Spanish has been chosen as the secondary aged students at Merchants’ Academy study Spanish and students will gain an advantage in our all-age academy to be exposed to this early. The scheme of learning followed is one based upon the LCP programme and the Jolie Ronde Spanish programme. We are also involved in the Erasmus project where Primary staff get opportunities to make links with other countries for their own development and also travel Spain to study Spanish during the Summer holiday period.

Secondary

YEARS 7, 8 AND 9

In years 7, 8 & 9 students focus on developing the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. We focus on recycling previous knowledge so that it becomes embedded and students can use phrases and vocabulary confidently and adapt these when talking about new topics. We aim to provide students with engaging and exciting opportunities to use the language they have learnt throughout the year. For example: designing their own villain in year 7 and investigating a murder mystery in year 8. 

By the end of year 9, students will not only be able to talk about a broad variety of topics in Spanish, but will also have a solid understanding of the most common grammatical concepts. This will enable to them to go on to study Spanish at a higher level (GCSE), give them a solid foundation for beginning the study of any other language in the future and also support their understanding of the English language.

Topics studied and content covered include:

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9
  • Introducing name and age.
  • Saying when your birthday is.
  • Talk about where you come from, where you live and learning about Spanish speaking countries.
  • To describe how you look.
  • To  be able to count up to 100 and use the numbers in a variety of different contexts.
  • To describe other people- their personality and physical appearance.
  • To explain how you get on with someone and why/why not.
  • Talking about pets, using the verbs “ser” and “tener” (“to be” and “to have”) in the present tense.
  • Comparing people using comparatives.
  • Talking about jobs.
  • Giving a wide variety of opinions.

“Los malos” end of year project, in which students will follow a story about spies and then design and write about their own “baddy” in Spanish, using what they have learnt throughout year 7.

Throughout the year students will continue to practise all vocabulary and structures learnt in year 7, but build on this by adding new topic specific vocabulary and more complex structures.

  • Students will read and understand fairy tales in Spanish and write their own, using the past tense.
  • Students will investigate a murder mystery through looking at detailed descriptions of people and places, as well as coming up with their own hypotheses in Spanish.
  • Students will learnt to talk about various aspects of school life, including subjects, the school day, describing the school buildings, teachers and school uniform.
  • Students will have the opportunity to discuss the cultural differences between schools in the UK and in Spanish speaking countries.
  • Students will learn to use the past tense and future tense to talk about school events.

Throughout the year students will continue to practise all vocabulary and structures learnt in year 7 and 8 but build on this by adding in new topic specific vocabulary and more complex structures.

 

  • Discuss your own hobbies in detail using the past, present and future tense.
  • To talk about different types of music and give opinions of them.
  • To discuss the positive and negative aspects of technology.
  • To talk about how you use different types of technology/social media and how they are used by other people.
  • To talk in detail about Spanish speaking countries- giving details about population, languages, currency, capital cities, climate and culture.
  • To talk abut holidays- discussing different types of accommodation and holiday activities.
  • To be able to talk about the water cycle in Spanish, using high-level topic specific vocabulary, alongside language learnt throughout KS3.

 

For further information:

Students also use “language-gym.com” which they can access online to practise and consolidate language learnt in class. All students will be given details of how to access the site by their Spanish teacher. 

YEARS 10 and 11 (NEW GCSE SPECIFICATION)

Course Title: Spanish
Exam Board: Edexcel
Qualification: GCSE

As in Years 7-9 students are examined in each of the four assessment areas: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Along with these skills, students will be assessed on the following topics:

  • Identity and Culture
  • Local Area, Holiday and Travel
  • School
  • Future Aspirations, Study and Work
  • International and Global Dimension

 

The new exam specification focuses much more on mastery of grammar. There is also be a strong focus on spontaneous language, or speaking and writing more through ‘thinking on your feet’. Students are also exposed to a range of language from Spanish media to Spanish poetry and literature. Students are expected to support their own learning at home by revising new vocabulary covered in class, even if it isn’t set for homework.

How it is assessed

Unit 1: One listening paper sat at the end of Year 11, which will examine students on all key vocabulary covered at GCSE and Years 7-9. Questions will be in English and Spanish.
Unit 2: A three-part speaking exam sat at the end of Year 11. Students will complete a role play, a picture-based task and a conversation. The whole exam will last 10-12 minutes.
Unit 3: One reading paper sat at the end of Year 11, which will examine students on all key vocabulary covered at GCSE and Years 7-9. Questions will be in English and Spanish.
Unit 4: A four-part exam sat at the end of Year 11 without a dictionary. Students will be expected to complete three written tasks in Spanish, as well as a translation from English into Spanish.

Further information:

Students also use “language-gym.com” which they can access online to practise and consolidate language learnt in class. All students will be given details of how to access the site by their Spanish teacher. 

Students can access a range of online lessons and resources through https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-year/year-10/subjects/spanish and https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/z799hbk