Spanish

Introduction

The aim of the MFL department is to create confident and competent life-long language learners. We encourage students to apply their linguistic knowledge to understand and communicate confidently and effectively in a variety of situations. We work as a team to deliver stimulating, challenging and enjoyable lessons that are accessible to all students and which enable them to realise their full potential. We also aim to raise awareness of the richness and diversity of other cultures so that pupils encounter different ways of seeing the world, and develop an international outlook.

All boys in Key Stage 3 are entitled to study a modern foreign language, and we encourage boys to continue with either French or Spanish at GCSE level. In Year 9, Spanish students start studying topics covered in the GCSE specification. We aim to develop the practical skills involved in language learning: communication, team-working, inter-personal, problem-solving, and organisation.

At Isleworth & Syon School, we strongly believe that learning a language can be good fun. Furthermore, the ability to communicate in a foreign language is invaluable when applying for universities and jobs. Speaking a foreign language is a vital skill, as 75% of the world’s population does not speak English and 60% of Britain’s trade is with non-English speaking countries. British businesses lose millions every year because they cannot speak their customers’ languages, and universities value MFL qualifications very highly.

Each year, we aim to offer trips to Spain in order to enable our students to put the language skills they have learned into practice. We also have a range of extra-curricular activities for students to get involved in.

KS3

Summary

All boys at Isleworth & Syon learn either French or Spanish at KS3.

The MFL curriculum is fully differentiated to challenge and support students of all abilities. In Key Stage 3 Spanish, we use the ‘Viva’ textbooks, interactive electronic resources, games and songs to engage students in the language.

Curriculum Content

Year 7

Curriculum

In Year 7, students study the following topics in Spanish:

Autumn 1 – My life (Spanish pronunciation, your personality, your family and birthday)
Autumn 2 – My free time (hobbies, sports, the weather)
Spring 1 – My school (school subjects, the building, opinions)
Spring 2 – My family and my friends (physical descriptions, describing where you live)
Summer 1 – My city (describing your town, telling the time, ordering in a café)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking or a listening/reading/writing assessment.
In the speaking assessment students have to read out loud to check their pronunciation, and are asked questions in Spanish by their teacher based on a role-play and a picture card. They should answer in the target language.

In the listening test, students complete exercises after listening to several extracts in the target language. In the reading test, students complete exercises on texts written in the foreign language, including authentic texts. Finally, students produce a piece of writing on the topic and translate short pieces of language into Spanish.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week, with each task available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find Spanish resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 7 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course textbooks.
YouTube – ideal to listen to Spanish music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize Spanish – excellent resources from the BBC.

Year 8

Curriculum

In Year 8 students study the following topics in Spanish:

Autumn 1 – Describing travel in the past and present (students describe past holidays and their holidays this year).
Autumn 2 – Describing events in the past, present and future (where you go and what you do in three different tenses)
Spring 1 – Technology, social events and the environment (how students use technology, their opinions of socialising and environmental issues)
Spring 2 – What you can, must, will and want to do at school (describing your school life)
Summer 1 – Family members and where people go and went (describing your family and what they and other people do)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking or a listening/reading/writing assessment.

In the speaking assessment students have to read out loud to check their pronunciation, and are asked questions in Spanish by their teacher based on a role-play and a picture card. They should answer in the target language.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week, with each task available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find Spanish resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 8 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course textbooks.
YouTube – ideal to listen to Spanish music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize Spanish – excellent resources from the BBC.

Year 9

In Year 9, students start studying the topics covered in the GCSE specification. The topics are as follows:

Autumn 1 Media and technology (students describe life online and other activities they pursue when not online
Autumn 2 Holidays (students describe their holidays in at least three tenses and revise the formation of present tense verbs)
Spring 1 Family and home life (students learn how to talk about social media and their relationships with their families)
Spring 2 Healthy lifestyles (students talk about their physical and mental wellbeing and they changes they will make to improve their lifestyles)
Summer 1 School (students give their opinions about school and discuss their plans for their studies)
Summer 2 – Revision for end of year test and cultural studies

Assessment

Each half-term students will complete either a speaking or a listening/reading/writing assessment.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

Students will be required to complete PPA each week, with each task available to view on the Insight App.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find Spanish resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 9 curriculum.

Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course textbooks.
YouTube – ideal to listen to Spanish music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize Spanish – excellent resources from the BBC.

KS4

Summary

Students at Isleworth & Syon can choose to carry on studying Spanish at GCSE level. In GCSE Spanish, we use the ‘Viva’ textbook and electronic, interactive resources alongside our own bank of games.

GCSE Spanish

The Edexcel GCSE specification covers the following themes over the two years. Students have already covered 5 modules in Year 9 and will carry on in Y10 and Y11.

Specification Code: 1SP1 (Year 10) / 1SP0 (Year 11)
Level: GCSE
Examination Board: Edexcel

Curriculum

Year 10

In Year 10, students learn about:

My personal world
Lifestyle and wellbeing
My neighbourhood
Media and technology
Studying and my future
Travel and tourism

Year 11

Year 11 students look at:

Theme 1: Identity and Culture
Theme 2: Local area, Holiday and Travel
Theme 3: School
Theme 4: Future aspirations, study and work
Theme 5: International and global dimension

Assessment

Students are assessed by a terminal examination at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework in this GCSE course. Students will be given mock examinations on a regular basis and will be assessed in at least one of the MFL skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) each half-term.

The examinations are as follows:

Year 10

Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 60 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 15 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 15 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of Spanish to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to Spanish – 1 hour 15 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Year 11

Paper 1 – Listening
Listening examination – 35 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (foundation tier) / 45 minutes including 5 minutes reading time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 2 – Speaking
Speaking examination – 7-9 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (foundation tier) / 10-12 minutes plus 12 minutes preparation time (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 3 – Reading
Reading examination including translation of Spanish to English – 45 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Paper 4 – Writing
Writing examination including translation of English to Spanish – 1 hour 10 minutes (foundation tier) / 1 hour 20 minutes (higher tier) – 25% of GCSE grade

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find Spanish resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 10 curriculum.

Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Pearson Active Learn – a key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Pearson ActiveHub – another key resource linked to the course textbooks.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
YouTube – ideal to listen to Spanish music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.
BBC Bitesize – a good way to practise listening skills.

KS5

Summary

The A level Spanish course is aimed at good linguists who have a real interest in Spain and Spanish culture. The course is based on current issues and debate and also includes cultural topics.

A level Spanish

Specification Code: 9PS0
Level: A level
Examination Board: Edexcel

Curriculum

Theme 1: The evolution of Spanish society
Theme 2: Political and artistic culture in the Spanish-speaking world
Theme 3: Immigration and the Spanish multicultural society
Theme 4: The Franco dictatorship and the transition to democracy

Assessment

Students will be assessed in the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) each term.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find Spanish resources.

Quizlet – essential for learning core vocabulary.
Duolingo – free app that provides the user with a ‘coach’ who reminds them every day to practise their language skills. Helps with pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
BBC Bitesize Spanish – great resource from the BBC
YouTube – ideal to listen to Spanish music. This is useful to develop listening skills.
YouTube – search for Extr@. It is a soap made for language learners. There are around twenty episodes, which tell the story of people living in the same building. Really useful for listening skills and vocabulary enrichment.
Linguascope – ask the teacher for the password! Great tool to revise vocabulary.

Extra-Curricular

We organise a number of activities for our students. These include:

Cine-Club – once a week at lunchtime.
MFL Karaoke Club- once a week at lunchtime.
British Film Institute trip to study Spanish cinema.
Visit to a Spanish tapas restaurant.

We will offer a trip to Spain. These visits represent a great opportunity to develop cultural awareness of Spain, develop confidence and fluency in the language, and increase student motivation.