Spanish

Spanish

Head of Department – Mrs M. García de Foster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview/vision/introduction

Torquay Boys’ Grammar School offers students the opportunity to study Spanish and Spanish culture from Year 7 all the way to the Sixth Form in a vibrant department with very dedicated and enthusiastic teachers, two of which are native. At the end of five years, students can reach quite a high level and be able to converse on a good range of topics. Taking Spanish in the Sixth Form will take students to quite a high level of competence and fluency.

Careers in languages on their own are as varied as working as an interpreter for the EU, translating documents for big companies who have interests abroad, travelling with politicians… Or you could combine Spanish with any other subject and join an international organisation doing something you are interested in but based in another country, or working for a British company who have contacts with producers abroad. Engineering with Spanish, Law with Spanish, History with Spanish, Sciences with Spanish – there are many opportunities open to you. Take these opportunities, you will not regret it!ÌýSpanish holds the key to 21 countries!

Intent
  • To give all students a grounding on which to build in the following years Y7 – Y8 – Y9 – GCSE – IB – University – skills to communicate with people from Spanish-speaking countries.
  • Getting students to be confident when speaking in Spanish, not to be embarrassed
  • Developing dictionary skills – being an independent enquirer.
  • Start to develop a love for the language – getting them to start to understand the importance of learning languages and how it can open many doors in their future careers and job opportunities – opening the door to language learning and opportunities linked with languages.
  • Getting them to be creative with the language and make their sentences more interesting by manipulating the language they know to convey their own ideas.
  • Speaking in pairs – working as a team – developing their communication skills.
  • Take responsibility for their own learning: checking their written work before handing it in and checking corrections, making a note of their own mistakes to avoid making them again.
  • Get all students to understand other cultures and how it is important to respect people from other countries and cultures.
  • Get students to a level in which they can communicate with people from Spanish-speaking countries – get them to be confident speakers in all the topics being studied – help them with strategies to remember vocabulary and structures.
  • Provide SEN students with the skills to be able to access language learning at their level – some students find language learning difficult, and we need to give them strategies to cope with the subject at their level.
  • Y10 summer term establishes who will benefit from taking Foundation. Working at the right level at the end of Y10 so that they can renew their efforts and work at achieving the best possible result for each individual student.
Implementation
  • Introduce different structures and tenses according to the SoW – students need to have the maturity to understand the structures. It is important to link any new language and structure to the language they already know so that they can make the link. This will help them remember the new language.
  • Classroom repetition to improve pronunciation, lots of repetition of new vocabulary – games, different voices, non-threatening questioning to allow all students (no matter what ability) to take part in a safe environment. Plenty of praise in the classroom – ticks in their yellow books, names on the board to encourage good participation in lessons and commendations to recognise their effort.
  • Giving students opportunities to be independent with their learning: finding new words, knowing how to look for a new word.
  • Telling students about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries, making their learning relevant. Whenever there is an opportunity, talking to the students about a cultural aspect. This will inspire students to learn more and to want to visit the countries where Spanish is spoken.
  • Writing skills – giving students plenty of opportunities to express themselves using the language they have been learning and getting them to explore different ways of giving opinions so that they can talk and write about a variety of topics which are relevant to them. Using different types of text according to the audience.
  • Give students opportunities regularly to practise the new language by doing speaking in pairs in lessons. For GCSE and IB students, provide them with more individual opportunities to practise their speaking with a Spanish language assistant. If we have a trainee teacher, he/she can also help with speaking activities.
  • Give students comprehensive feedback on their writing by marking their work and getting students to act on the feedback – doing some corrections and checking their future work to avoid making the same mistakes again. Give students one or two targets to work on so that they know what they need to do to make some progress.
  • Make good use of all the opportunities we have with the internet to show students little clips of cultural events, festivals, interesting pieces of news, songs, and films to support their learning.
  • Give students opportunities to practise their vocabulary learning: vocabulary tests in Active Learn KS3 and KS4. When we are in IT3, students can also learn vocabulary by using Duolingo, Memrise, and Seneca. Teachers give students opportunities to develop their language skills independently.
  • Once a student is identified as SEN, teachers ensure he is given the support needed, for example, KS4 writing support sheets. Students who are taking Foundation have small group work to show them what they need to do at this level for GCSE. PP students are identified at the beginning of the year, and teachers make sure the student is working to the best of his ability by offering him support if needed. Students are encouraged to come to the Spanish club once a week to work on a one-to-one basis.
Impact
  • By the number of students taking the subject both at KS4 and KS5.
  • Through the enthusiasm of students when talking about cultural things in class and their curiosity.
  • By the number of students who leave Â鶹¹ÙÍø but keep in touch to let us know of their successes with Spanish (qualitative data).
  • By the number of students attending the Spanish club.
  • When we travel to Spain with KS4/KS5, students can communicate with native Spanish people in real situations.
  • By the respect students show towards the teachers.
  • By the enthusiasm of students looking at displays of photos from trips to Spain and the number of students who come on the trips.
  • By the results students achieve at GCSE and IB, but also the termly assessments done with all year groups.
  • SEN and PP students achieve the best possible results at GCSE and IB. Students come to the club to get support.
  • The enthusiasm and renewed determination of Foundation students when they do Foundation, they find that they can achieve good grades – and it is very pleasing to share their achievements.

 

Ìý

KS3
Year 7 – Viva 1

Students in Y7 learn how to introduce themselves, talking about family and friends and pets, activities in their free time, subjects they study at school, opinions about subjects and teachers, describing their school and talking about activities they do during break. By the end of Y7, they will also be able to talk about where they live and what activities they can do in town. Y7 students will cover two main tenses in Y7: the Present and Near Future tenses.

Assessments Y7

Autumn TermÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Speaking on Module 1: My life – total % for IMs

Spring Term ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Writing on Module 2: Free time – total % for IMs

Summer Term ÌýÌý Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing on content up to p101 from textbook (Present and Near Future) + Grammar seen in Year 7 – total % for IMs

Feedback on assessments (1 per Term)

  • Written feedback with Writing assessment

Assessment slips

  • Results and % given in Assessment slip to individual students
  • Slips stuck in students’ exercise books.
  • Students write: their strengths, students reflect on their progress and write one or two SMART targets and the effort they think they have put in during the term.

Resources

  • Pearson Active Learn – online activities (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) for each unit from the Viva 1 textbook
  • Quizlet: quizlet.com (free)
  • Memrise: www.memrise.com (free)
  • Seneca: www.senecalearning.com (free)
  • Duolingo: www.duolingo.com (free)

Opportunities

  • Spanish club once a week – to develop skills and/or to support students if they find some aspect of the language difficult
  • Spanish assistant (if we have one during the year)
Year 8 – Viva 2

Students in Y8 will continue developing their language skills and building on the base from Year 7. They will learn to talk about a past holiday, music and TV programmes they like, describe mealtimes and learn about foods, arrange to go out and describe a holiday home and holiday activities. This year they will revise the Present and Near Future tenses and learn how to use the Preterite tense to describe a holiday in the past.

Assessments Y8

Autumn TermÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Speaking on Module 1: Holidays – total % for IMs

Spring Term ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Writing on Module 2: Free time – total % for IMs

Summer Term ÌýÌý Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing on content up to p83 from textbook (3 tenses + Grammar seen in Year 7 and 8 – total % for IMs

Feedback on assessments (1 per Term)

  • Written feedback with Writing assessment

Assessment slips

  • Results and % given in Assessment slip to individual students
  • Slips stuck in students’ exercise books.
  • Students write: their strengths, students reflect on their progress and write one or two SMART targets and the effort they think they have put in during the term.

Resources

  • Pearson Active Learn – online activities (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) for each unit from the Viva 1 textbook
  • Quizlet: quizlet.com (free)
  • Memrise: www.memrise.com (free)
  • Seneca: www.senecalearning.com (free)
  • Duolingo: www.duolingo.com (free)

Opportunities

  • Spanish club once a week – to develop skills and/or to support students if they find some aspect of the language difficult
  • Spanish assistant (if we have one during the year)
Y9

Year 9 students continue learning Spanish, and this year, we cover 2 topics in detail, starting to explore GCSE style texts and how to do writing and speaking tasks GCSE style at Foundation level, which will form the base for their GCSE in Y10 and Y11. We will cover the topics of Holidays and School in-depth, covering a wide range of subtopics: how they spend their summer holidays, talking about a past holiday, describing the hotel and place they stayed in, how to book accommodation for the Module about holidays, and describing school rules and facilities, talking about subjects and teachers in more detail and with more advanced language, extracurricular activities for the Module about school. This year, students will revise the tenses seen so far: Present, Preterite and Near Future, and they will learn how to use the Imperfect tense.

Assessments Y9

Autumn TermÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Speaking on Module 1: Free time – total % for IMs

Spring Term ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading and Writing on finish Module 1: Free time, and Holidays – total % for IMs

Summer Term ÌýÌý Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing on Module 2: Holidays – total % for IMs

Feedback on assessments (1 per Term)

  • Written feedback with Writing assessment

Assessment slips

  • Results and % given in Assessment slip to individual students
  • Slips stuck in students’ exercise books.
  • Students write: their strengths, students reflect on their progress and write one or two SMART targets and the effort they think they have put in during the term.

Resources

  • Pearson ActiveHub – online activities (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) for each unit from the GCSE textbook
  • Quizlet: quizlet.com (free)
  • Memrise: www.memrise.com (free)
  • Seneca: www.senecalearning.com (free)
  • Duolingo: www.duolingo.com (free)

Opportunities

  • Spanish club once a week – to develop skills and/or to support students if they find some aspect of the language difficult
  • Spanish assistant (if we have one during the year)
GCSEÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Exam board: AQA

You have done 3 years of Spanish; why carry on?

  1. You have to do a language at GCSE. (Although this is a good reason, it shouldn’t be the only reason!)
  2. There are 21 countries where they speak Spanish. That’s 21 places to visit where you’ll be able to travel, understand and be understood. That’s a lot of holidays!
  3. There are over 400 million native speakers of Spanish and 60 million who speak it as a second language in the world. If you want to be successful in their commercial environment, you’ll need to speak their language.
  4. All these people are interesting and fun and enjoy a rich cultural heritage, which is just waiting for you to explore!

In Year 10 students continue with the 3-year GCSE course in Spanish, consolidating their learning and expanding on their ability to express themselves fluently.

Pupils are assessed in four skills throughout the GCSE course through regular tests in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, as well as Translation. They are given regular assessments in Listening and Reading using both past papers and GCSE-style tests, and can assess their progress according to how well they do. Throughout Year 10 and 11, we do preparatory work for the GCSE Speaking and Writing examinations. Grammatical accuracy, now a key element of the GCSE, will be essential to making good progress.

In Year 11 students complete the 3-year course to GCSE in Spanish. We continue using the Viva GCSE digital textbook.

Pupils continue to do regular Listening and Reading assessments using past GCSE papers at both Foundation and Higher Levels. Mock examinations (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) take place at the end of Year 1. Each exam is 25% of the whole GCSE. Students can be entered at the Higher or Foundation level. Further mock exams in November of Year 11 are used to generate the student’s predicted grade. There is more emphasis on grammatical accuracy at GCSE which will give students a very good base should they decide to continue with their study of Spanish at IB (International Baccalaureate) in the Sixth Form.

We offer aÌýtrip toÌýValencia,Ìýwhere students do a one-week Spanish course in the mornings and exciting activities in the afternoons and evenings. This trip is for Year 10 – 13 students and takes place every other year. A great opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and the language!

Y10

In Y10, students continue developing their language skills to prepare them for their GCSE next year and cover Module 3, where they learn about relationships, social networks, making arrangements with family and friends and describing people, Module 4 is about lifestyle, and students cover topics such as food, mealtimes, healthy lifestyles and illnesses. Finally, we do Module 5 about school, which includes talking about typical school day, their studies, how they would change their school and a past school trip. With regards to verb tenses, students will revise the tenses seen in KS3 and learn the Simple future (seen briefly in Y9) and the Present Continuous tense.

Assessments Y10

Autumn TermÌý Ìý Ìý ÌýListening, Reading and Speaking on half of Module 3: Friends and family – total % for IMs

Spring TermÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýListening, Reading and Writing on Module 4: Lifestyle – total % for IMs

Summer termÌý Ìý Ìý ÌýÌýListening, Reading, Speaking and Writing GCSE papers – total % for IMs

Feedback on assessments (1 per Term)

  • Written feedback with Writing assessment

Assessment slips

  • Results and % given in Assessment slip to individual students
  • Slips stuck in students’ exercise books.
  • Students write: their strengths, students reflect on their progress and write one or two SMART targets and the effort they think they have put in during the term.

Resources

  • Pearson ActiveHub – online activities (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) for each unit from the GCSE textbook
  • Spanish Vocabulary and Speaking booklet bought from Library or downloaded from Teams
  • This is Language – online resource to develop GCSE listening skills
  • Exampro – past paper questions for Listening and Reading skills – independent learning
  • Quizlet: quizlet.com (free)
  • Memrise: www.memrise.com (free)
  • Seneca: www.senecalearning.com (free)
  • Duolingo: www.duolingo.com (free)

Opportunities

  • Spanish club once a week – to develop skills and/or to support students if they find some aspect of the language difficult
  • Spanish assistant (if we have one during the year)
  • KS4/KS5 Trip to Valencia in Activities Week: students attend Spanish language lessons in the morning & activities in the afternoon
Y11

In Y11, students cover the last three Modules from the GCSE course: Module 6: where I live, where they explore describing cities, how a city has changed and shopping; Module 7 covers the topic of environment and students learn talking about how to help the environment, climate change and how to help in the community. They also learn how to use the Perfect and Subjunctive tenses. Finally, in Module 8, students learn about the future: about part-time jobs, work experience, the importance of learning languages, the impact of artificial intelligence and future careers.

Assessments Y11

Autumn Term MOCK ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing: Level for IMs

Spring Term MOCKÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing: Level for IMs

Summer termÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý Ìý GCSE examinations (Speaking GCSE after Easter holidays), Listening, Reading and Writing in May/June

Feedback on assessments (1 per Term)

  • Written feedback with Writing assessment

Assessment slips

  • Results and % given in Assessment slip to individual students
  • Slips stuck in students’ exercise books.
  • Students write: their strengths, students reflect on their progress and write one or two SMART targets and the effort they think they have put in during the term.

Resources

  • Pearson ActiveHub- online activities (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) for each unit from the GCSE textbook
  • Spanish Vocabulary and Speaking booklet bought from Library or downloaded from Teams
  • Exampro – past paper questions for Listening and Reading skills – independent learning
  • Quizlet: quizlet.com (free)
  • Memrise: www.memrise.com (free)
  • Seneca: www.senecalearning.com (free)
  • Duolingo: www.duolingo.com (free)

Opportunities

  • Spanish club once a week – to develop skills and/or to support students if they find some aspect of the language difficult
  • Spanish assistant (if we have one during the year)
  • KS4/KS5 Trip to Valencia in Activities Week: students attend Spanish language lessons in the morning & activities in the afternoon
Sixth Form – IB Spanish Standard / Higher / Ab initio

At KS5 students can study Spanish through the IB at Ab initio, Standard or Higher Level. We use a wide range of resources to offer students an exciting and interesting experience developing their language skills.

The course covers the followingÌýthemes:

  • Identities:Ìýlifestyles, health and wellbeing, beliefs and values, subcultures, language and identity;
  • Experiences:Ìýleisure, holidays and travel, life stories, rites of passage, customs and traditions, migration;
  • Human ingenuity:Ìýentertainment, artistic expressions, communication and the media, technology, scientific innovation;
  • Social organization:Ìýsocial relationships, community, social engagement, education, the working world, law and order;
  • Sharing the planet:Ìýthe environment, human rights, peace and conflict, equality, globalization, ethics, urban and rural environment.

Examinations

Standard

  • Paper 1Productive skills – Writing – 250 – 400 words ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý1 hr 15 minsÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý25%
  • Paper 2ÌýReceptive skills: Listening and Reading 1 hr 45 minsÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý50%
  • Internal Assessment (Speaking) –ÌýA conversation with the teacher based on a visual stimulus, followed by a discussion based on an additional theme. ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 25%

Higher

  • Paper 1Productive skills – Writing – 450 – 600 words ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý1 hr 30 minsÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 25%
  • Paper 2ÌýReceptive skills: Listening and Reading 2 hrsÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 50%
  • Internal Assessment (Speaking) –ÌýA conversation with the teacher, based on an extract from one of the literary works studied in class, followed by a discussion based on one or more of the themes from the syllabusÌý ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý25%

Ab initio

  • Paper 1Productive skills – Writing – 2 tasks 70 – 150 words ÌýÌýÌý1 hrÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý 25%
  • Paper 2ÌýReceptive skills: Listening and ReadingÌý 1 hr 45 minsÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý50%
  • Internal Assessment (Speaking) –ÌýA conversation with the teacher based on a visual stimulus, followed by a discussion based on additional themes.25%

We offer aÌýtrip toÌýValencia,Ìýwhere students do a one-week Spanish course in the mornings and exciting activities in the afternoons and evenings. This trip is for Year 10 and Year 12 students and takes place in Activities Week. A great opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture and the language!

Extracurricular activities

Spanish club –ÌýAs part of your learning, you have other opportunities to practise and learn Spanish outside the classroom. We run a Spanish club one lunchtime a week, where you can come and play games, do Spanish Karaoke, etc. If you find any aspect of the language difficult, there is an excellent team of Sixth Form students who sit with students to do some one-to-one work.

Anthea Bell Oxford University Translation CompetitionÌýG&T Translation sessions to prepare students for the competition.

International Food Market,Ìýwhere students have the opportunity to taste different foods from Spain and South America.

Cooking / Food tasting sessions: students in small groups learn to cook some Spanish and South American dishes, such as Spanish omelettes and churros con chocolate.