Spanish is the mother tongue of 21 countries worldwide and has
350 million native speakers, a figure set to grow as the Hispanic
population, particularly in the USA, expands. The Spanish language
is increasingly important in tourism, commerce and politics; its
influence did not go unnoticed by Barack Obama who recorded several
campaign advertisements in Spanish!
Spanish is offered as an option choice to all boys at the end of
Year 9, and the full GCSE course is taught in two years, with boys
going from complete beginners to GCSE level by the end of Year 11.
Boys may only take Spanish as a second foreign language and must
continue with at least one of the languages studied in the Lower
School.
Boys choosing to study Spanish in Year 10 have five 50 minute
lessons per two week cycle. In order to reach GCSE standard within
2 years, progress is brisk, and we follow a specially designed
course aimed at enabling the boys to speak in full sentences, use
different tenses and express opinions as soon as possible. A
variety of different teaching techniques are used to develop the
four skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking, including
pair work, activities on the interactive whiteboard, and language
games. While the principal aim is for the boys to feel
confident using Spanish in practical situations, there is a solid
grammatical focus to lessons as we feel it is important for the
boys to move beyond phrasebook Spanish and become independent
speakers of the
language.
We use the ¡Mira! course book as a framework for our teaching
and follow the AQA Syllabus for GCSE. Assessment is by way of
2 controlled assessments each for Speaking and Writing, and two 50
minute terminal exams for Reading and Listening. It is anticipated
that all the controlled assessments will be completed during Year
11.
In the Lower School, boys have the opportunity to experience
Spanish in the weekly Spanish Club, during which they participate
in activities such as language learning, food tasting and learning
about popular Spanish festivals.
It is anticipated that a residential study trip to Spain will be
offered in Year 11 in October half term to get the boys' GCSE year
off to a flying start.
Head of Department
Ms J Wardle, BA,
MA