Spanish
The Curriculum
Curriculum Intent
MFL at Southend High School for Girls ignites a lifelong love of learning. In MFL we fully cover the range of the National Curriculum and the GCSE and A level specifications. It instils the value of languages as an academic subject and equips students with the emotional resilience and confidence to communicate with spontaneity and increasing levels of grammatical accuracy in a variety of different contexts, using a rich vocabulary. Students begin by giving and understanding information on a personal level and develop the ability to discuss wider international issues, abstract concepts and literature. Our students take opportunities to widen their horizons intellectually, culturally and geographically, liberating themselves from the dangers of insularity. MFL students reflect on and analyse their work. They are not afraid to take responsibility for their learning but set themselves ambitious targets to help them achieve their full potential. They develop the skills required to express themselves and understand both the spoken and the written word to a range of audiences with the aim of being able to access a diversity of authentic literature, film and music. Our ambition is that our students will view themselves as global citizens eager to embrace opportunities and experiences in the world of work and beyond wherever they may be found.
What does it feel like to be a student in the Spanish Department?
Studying Spanish at Southend High School for Girls is a challenging and rewarding experience that will enhance your view of the world and your place in it. In every lesson you will encounter the grammar, structures and vocabulary which will enhance your ability to express your ideas on an abundance of topics in Spanish. You will be fearless and a risk taker in your quest to able to speak coherently and confidently and write creatively and accurately in a wide range of scenarios. You will look beyond the stereotypes and be able to compare and contrast your own language and culture and gain a deeper understanding of Spanish in context. You will process language from a wide variety of sources and translate both ways.
Expectations are high and you will be expected to read widely in order to keep up to date with current events in the Spanish speaking world, stimulate ideas and develop your creative expression. You will have ample opportunities to consolidate your awareness of grammar and acquire a wide ranging and deepening vocabulary, enabling you to take part in discussions about wider issues and aspects of culture.
To complement the course there are several language competitions which are available to all students in all years, including spelling bees, pen pal projects and international competitions such as Education Perfect. In year 10, you will have the opportunity take part in the pupil exchange with our partner school in Valladolid. Taking part in these activities will enhance your learning and also deepen your awareness of the varied and multicultural landscape the of Spanish language.
If you should leave the subject in year 9 you will still have the foundations of linguistic competency to be comfortable in a Spanish speaking environment and possess skills of significant benefit for the future. At GCSE you will be in a position to offer a high level of competency to any future employer or institution. In year 13 and beyond, your command of Spanish will set you apart and give you the tools to become an exceptional candidate for university and employment opportunities beyond the United Kingdom.
Journey
Spanish Curriculum
At Southend High School for Girls we teach a curriculum that is ambitious and takes students on a learning journey beyond the National Curriculum for Spanish. The SHSG Spanish curriculum is what we believe will expose and challenge students to a cultural capital in Spanish that is the best that has been thought and said in this subject.
The Spanish curriculum is planned and delivered using the intellectual framework of the classical education model, the Trivium:
- Grammar (Knowledge and skills) knowledge, learning by heart, subject terminology, cultural capital
- Dialectic (Enquiry and exploration) debate, question, challenge, analyse, evaluate
- Rhetoric (Communication) essays, role plays, presentations
Year 7 – 9
Pre-requisite or helpful knowledge from Year 6 Spanish ready to study in Year 7 if applicable
- N/A
Adjustments from the Pandemic for years 7 – 9 if applicable?
- Year 8 will begin this year covering the final topic of Year 7 because of lost learning time. This topic links directly with the Year 8 topic of past holidays and gives students a chance to learn and consolidate the near future tense, so that students can work on using two tenses at once and then be introduced to the past tense early in Year 8.
The topics below have been chosen as they reflect the ambitions of the National Curriculum, and as a Grammar school, also challenge students beyond the National Curriculum. They have been carefully sequenced in this order to build a student’s learning journey to achieve the aims of our Spanish intent. Along the way students are assessed and topics will be revisited in assessments to keep each stage of this learning journey alive.
Year 7
Term 1
Topic 1 – All About Me
Content
Greetings, name, age, birthday, alphabet, numbers, days of week and months, countries, character and physical descriptions, family members, pets, colours, favourite things.
Grammar
- Gender of nouns
- Definite and indefinite articles
- Present tense of regular verbs
- Giving opinions
- Connectives
- Irregular verbs SER & TENER
Assessment
- Translate a Spanish conversation into English
- Listening and reading skills about family and oneself
- Speaking about the important people in our lives in a short presentation
Term 2
Topic 2 – School and Free time
Content
Sports, hobbies and pastimes, expressions of time, use of technology, online activities.
Differences between the Spanish and British school systems, school subjects, school building, telling the time (analogue, digital and 24hr clock), school day and timings.
Grammar
- Regular verbs
- Irregular verbs SER & TENER
- Hay
- Indefinite articles
- Writing negative sentences
- Word order
- Giving opinions
- Using time expressions and time frequencies
- Justifying opinions using
- Sequencers
- Irregular verbs in the present tense.
Assessment
- Listening, reading and translation into Spanish and English about how others express likes and dislikes and justification of ideas
Term 3
Topic 3
At Home and in Town
Content
Different kinds of housing, Ordinals, rooms in a house, places in town and local area. Giving opinions about our local area. Saying what we like to do in town. Order a snack in a café. Making plans for the weekend.
Grammar
- The verb Hay
- The verb IR
- Indefinite articles
- The near future tense
- The verb Estar
- Using two verbs together
- Qualifiers and intensifiers
Assessment
- PUP exam
Year 8
Term 1
Topic 1 – At Home and abroad
Content
Places in town and local area. Giving opinions about our local area. Saying what we like to do in town. Order a snack in a café. Making plans for the weekend.
Modes of transport, holiday activities. Where you went on holiday and with whom. What you did during your holiday.
Grammar
- Prepositions and ordinals
- Near future using Ir
- Using two verbs at the same time.
- SER vs ESTAR
- Comparatives and superlatives
- Past, present and future tenses of regular verbs and SER/IR
- Adjective agreement
- Hay
- Indefinite articles
- Writing negative sentences
- Giving and justifying opinions
- Using time expressions and time frequencies
- Justifying opinions using
- Sequencers
Assessment
- Listening skills based on where we live, and getting around a Spanish town. Using the near future tense to understand upcoming plans.
- Speaking skills- Describing what you did on holiday.
Term 2
Topic 2 – Hobbies and Free Time
Content
Mobile phones, music and TV.
Past free time activities
Reading a TV guide and understanding an authentic text.
Understanding young people’s lives in Spanish speaking countries.
Grammar
- Me gusta + other opinions
- Comparatives
- Using the present and preterite tenses together
- Comparatives
- Near future
- Direct object pronouns
Assessment
- PUP exam
Term 3
Topic 3 – Eating out Social activities
Content
- Meals and what kind of food you like.
- Comparing mealtimes in Spain and England.
- Ordering a meal in a Spanish restaurant.
- Making arrangements with friends and recalling an event in the past.
- Giving excuses not to go out
- Daily routines: preparing to go out.
- Describing clothes.
- Giving positive and negative reactions to family situations.
Grammar
- Revising stem changing verbs
- Reflexive verbs
- Using Gustar+ infinitive to ask someone out
- Using Poder
- Prepositions
- The verb Llevar
- Time expressions
- Opinions + infinitives
- Dejar + infinitive
- Reported speech = dicen que…
- Reviewing comparatives
Assessment
- Listening and reading skills
- Speaking – Conversation about what we like to do and making plans with friends
Year 9
Term 1
Topic 1 – My Lifetsyle
Content
- Freetime activities,
- Cinema,Celebrations
- Friendships
- Role models and celebrity lifestyles
- Festivals
- Healthy eating and sports
- Staying healthy for the future and common ailments
Grammar
- Using regular and irregular verbs in the present and preterite tense
- Review expressions of frequency
- Intrerrogatives
- Time indicators
- Sequencers
- Interrogatives
Assessment
- 90 word essay, “My free time “
- PUP exam
Term 2
Topic 2 – Jobs and future plans
Content
- Review a range of Jobs
- Places of work, Reviewing descriptions of personality
- Future plans. A typical day at work
Grammar
- Encantar in 3rd person – Le encanta
- Ser + jobs
- Tener Que + infinitive
- Adjective agreement
- Preterite of regular verbs
- Using preterite and present tense together
- Conditional (including irregulars)
- Interrogatives
Assessment
- Listening and reading with translation about personality and job choices
- 90 word essay about what we like to do, and how this will influence our job choices
Term 3
Topic 3 – My place in the larger world
Content
- Travelling abroad and staying in someone’s home
- Children’s rights
- Environment and recycling
- Fair Trade
- Local area
- Volunteering and being a global citizen
- Giving advice
Grammar
- Poder
- Exclamations
- Se debería+ infinitive
- The imperfect tense
- Superlative adjectives
- Comparatives
- Modes of address (formal)
- If statements + simple future tense
Assessment
- Speaking- conversation about how where we live and what you would like to improve about our area.
Achieving mastery in Spanish– knowing and remembering even more than what is expected in a grammar school lower school curriculum
Our assessment practice at SHSG reflects on how successful students have been in knowing, remembering and doing more through the above topics. They will learn key language and subject specific terminology Spanish student in lower school. They are either emerging, developing, proficient or mastery in this journey throughout lower school.
To achieve mastery in Spanish, students will be able to apply grammatical knowledge, respond spontaneously and fluently to a wide range of questions, recognise a wide range of idioms and translate accordingly, and show a high level of accuracy in correct word order, tense formation and adjectival agreement.
Furthering cultural awareness in Spanish for Lower School (Years 7 – 9)
- Mary Glasgow magazines (Years 7-9)
- Songs and artists :Natalia La Fourcade, Carlos Rivera, La Oreja de van Gogh, Amaral, Rosalía, Morat
- Sporting events – el fútbol / La Liga
- Cultural events – El Día de los Muertos/ Spanish festivals
Useful websites, TED Talks and research for Lower School (Years 7 – 9)
- Quizlet.com for vocabulary learning
- Seneca Learning for grammar and vocabulary practice
- Languages Online for extra reading practice
- Lyrics Training.com
- Virtual tours of Spanish speaking countries and famous museums and cultural landmarks
Spanish-specific language to master in Lower School (Years 7 – 9)
- All required technical terminology can be found in SHSG Spanish KS3 Glossary of grammatical terms
- Vocabulary and grammar booklets
- Key concepts to understand for reading and listening. Phonics, prediction, reading for gist, summary
- What is meant by ‘context’ when reading and deciphering Spanish
At Southend High School for Girls we teach a curriculum that is ambitious and takes students on a learning journey beyond the GCSE syllabus for Spanish. The SHSG Spanish curriculum is what we believe will expose and challenge students to a cultural capital in Spanish that is the best that has been thought and said in this subject.
The Spanish curriculum is planned and delivered using the intellectual framework of the classical education model, the Trivium:
- Grammar (Knowledge and skills) knowledge, learning by heart, subject terminology, cultural capital
- Dialectic (Enquiry and exploration) debate, question, challenge, analyse, evaluate
- Rhetoric (Communication) essays, speeches, performances, presentations
Pre-requisite or helpful knowledge from Year7- 9 Spanish to study GCSE successfully:
Regular and Irregular verbs in three time frames (Present, Past, Future), giving opinions with justification, using connecting words and conjunctions to expand simple ideas. Core vocabulary from KS3 about Family, Free time, School, Town and region.
Adjustments from the Pandemic for years 10-11 if applicable?
More time will be spent to practise speaking and listening skills in class.
The topics below have been chosen as they reflect the demands of the GCSE and challenge students beyond these requirements, they have been sequenced in order to build a student’s learning journey to achieve the aims of our MFL intent. Along the way students are assessed and topics will be revisited in assessments to keep each stage of this learning journey alive.
Year 10
Term 1
Topic 1
Theme 3 – Current and future study and employment
- School subjects
- School description
- Rules and uniform
- Positive and negative aspects of school
Topic 2-Theme 1 – Identity and Culture -Free time activities and family relationships
- Relationships with family and friends
- Marriage and partnerships
Grammar
- Revising the regular present tense
- Some common irregular verbs in the present tense
- Using two verbs together
- Radical changing verbs
- Forming regular adverbs
- Using pronouns after para and con
- Revising the immediate future
- Extending range of two verbs together
- Using the future tense
- Hacer, haber, salir and tener in the future
- Recognising irregular verbs in the future
- Reflexive verbs – LLevarse (to get along with
- Using adverbs of frequency
- Uses of “Que”
- Object Pronouns
- Direct and indirect object pronouns
Assessment
- Peer marked listening reading paper
- 90 word essay, marked by teacher
Term 2
Topic 3- Theme 2 -Local,national, international and global areas of interest – Home and local area & Social issues
- My home
- My local area
- Town vs Country
Topic 4 -Theme 1- Identity and Culture – Technology in everyday life and customs and festivals
- Social Media
- Mobile Technology
Grammar
- The perfect tense of regular verbs
- Using verbs with prepositions
- Formulating questions
- Further uses of Por and Para
- Ser and Ir in the preterite tense
- Hacer and Tener in the preterite tense
- Irregular verbs in the imperfect
- Using the preterite and imperfect together
Assessment
- GCSE exam style speaking task: photocard. Recorded with This is Languages and marked by teacher.
- Reading and translation into English (peer marked)
Term 3
Topic 5- Theme 1 – Identity and Culture -Free time activities and family relationships
- Cinema
- Music
- Television
- Food and eating out
- Sports
Topic 6-Theme 2 -Local, national, international, and global areas of interest – Home and local area & Social issues
- Holiday and travel
- Regions of Spain
Grammar
- Use quantifiers
- Understanding questions presented in the present, past and future
- Using synonyms to express the same idea.
- Use demonstrative pronouns in description of town and local area
- Review present and preterite tense of IR and HACER
- Reviewing social interactions and transactional language
- Reviewing verbs followed by the infinitive.
- Recognising different tenses
- Formulating and using the Gerund
- Using Hay que, Tener que, and Deber (+ infinitive)
- Learning about the present subjunctive
- Expressing agreement and disagreement.
Assessment
- PPE 1
- Speaking assessment: Role play and photocards
Year 11
Term 1
Topic 7-Theme 2 -Local, national, international, and global areas of interest – Home and local area & Social issues
- Holiday and travel
- Regions of Spain
(Continued from Year 10)
Local customs in the UK
- Spanish customs
- Latin American Festivals
- Festivals in Spain
Topic 8 – Theme 2 – National, international and global areas of interest-
Global issues
- Environment
- Poverty and homelessness
- Charity and voluntary work
- Healthy and unhealthy living
Grammar
- If + near future tense
- Modal verbs (hay que /debes) when giving recommendations)
- Using the preterite to describe past events
- Reviewing formulating and identifying negative expressions
- Set phrases using “if” statements and the imperfect subjunctive.
- The pluperfect tense in narration of events
- Review of three tenses
- Estar+ participle
- Se + passive forms of verbs
Assessment
Speaking assessment- role play and photocard. Marked by teacher.
PPE1
Term 2
Topic 2 Theme 3 – Current and future study and employment
- Post 18 choices (work or university?)
- Higher Education
- Jobs
- Preparation for GCSE speaking exam
Grammar
- Use lo que – To give opinions on school
- Understanding orders/ directions
- Express for how long for
- Reusing hay que + tener que
- Expressing what your school should have / do
- Identifying the present subjunctive after expressions of time
- Using a variety of time frames
- Identifying the present subjunctive in hypothetical situations
- Identifying the past continuous tense
Assessment
- PPE 2
Term 3
Topic 3 – GCSE Revision
Assessment
- GCSE Speaking Exam
- GCSE Reading, Listening and Writing papers
Achieving outstanding outcomes in Spanish – knowing and remembering even more than what is expected in a grammar school GCSE Curriculum
Our assessment practice at SHSG reflects on how successful students have been in knowing, remembering and doing more through the above topics.
To achieve outstanding outcomes in Spanish as a student in Year 11 and achieve grade 9 in Spanish, students should:
develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently in speech and writing, conveying what they want to say with accuracy
express and develop thoughts and ideas spontaneously and fluently
listen to and understand clearly articulated, standard speech at near normal speed
deepen their knowledge about how language works and enrich their vocabulary in order for them to increase their independent use and understanding of extended language in a wide range of contexts
demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the culture and identity of the countries and communities where the language is spoken
develop language-learning skills both for immediate use and to prepare them for further language study and use in school, higher education or employment
Cultural Capital in Year 10-11 Spanish
- Spanish speaking world – Prehispanic culture and the modern Spanish speaking world.
- Spanish Festivals
- Global issues in the Spanish speaking world (environment, social issues)
- Youth culture – music,films, trends
Useful websites and independent learning
- Quizlet.com
- SenecaLearning
- This is Language
- eRevision
- BBC Mundo
- AQA website and use of past papers
- elpais.es (reading practice)
- RTVE.es (live TV and radio)
Language to master in Middle School Spanish (Years 10 – 11)
Expanding KS3 knowledge of 3 time frames to include tenses:
- imperfect;
- perfect tense + past particple
- conditional;
- gerund;
- present subjunctive: imperative, affirmation and negation, future after conjunctions of time; (cuando), after verbs of wishing, command, request, emotion, to express purpose (para que)
- identifying the imperfect subjunctive in written and spoken texts
- High-frequency language and topic specific language from AQA GCSE Spanish Specification
At Southend High School for Girls we teach a curriculum that is ambitious and takes students on a learning journey beyond the A level syllabus for Spanish. The SHSG Spanish curriculum is what we believe will expose and challenge students to a cultural capital in Spanish that is the best that has been thought and said in this subject.
The Spanish curriculum is planned and delivered using the intellectual framework of the classical education model, the Trivium:
- Grammar (Knowledge and skills) knowledge, learning by heart, subject terminology, cultural capital
- Dialectic (Enquiry and exploration) debate, question, challenge, analyse, evaluate
- Rhetoric (Communication) essays, speeches, performances, presentations
Pre-requisite or helpful knowledge from Year 11 Spanish to study A level successfully
Sound knowledge of grammar and a broad vocabulary base is required.
All revision and preparation work set over the summer should be completed.
Adjustments from the Pandemic for years 12-13 if applicable?
Focus on listening and speaking.
The topics below have been chosen as they reflect the demands of the A level syllabus and challenge students beyond these requirements, they have been sequenced in order to build a student’s learning journey to achieve the aims of our MFL intent. Along the way students are assessed and topics will be revisited in assessments to keep each stage of this learning journey alive. The topic coverage is shared between the two teachers and in the final term of year 12 one teacher will cover the novel whilst the other covers the film. Students will also begin the year 13 programme at the end of year 12.
Year 12
Term 1
Topic 1
Family in Change
- Relationships within the family.
- Changing attitudes towards marriage, divorce and partnerships
- Different types of family
- The influence of the Catholic Church
Grammar
- Imperfect and imperfect continuous
- Preterite tense
Topic 2
The digital world
- The internet
- Social networks
- The impact of smartphones
- The digitalisation of society.
Grammar
- Present and present continuous
- Comparatives and superlatives
- Ser vs Estar
- The future and conditional tenses
Topic 3
The influence of celebrity culture
- Singers and musicians
- Stars of tv and film
- Models
Grammar
- Indirect object pronouns
- The passive voice
- direct object pronouns
Cultural Topic: the study of a film
Pan’s Labyrinth
- Analysis and essay writing skills for film
Assessment
- Reading and translation both ways assessment
- Topic Test Assessment Listening, Reading and translation Peer and teacher marked
Term 2
Topic 4
Sexual equality
- Women in the world of work
- Male chauvinism and feminism
- LGBTQ rights in Spain
- Gay marriage in Spain and the Hispanic world
Grammar
- Indefinte adjectives and pronouns
- Perfect tense
- Pluperfect tense
- Future perfect tense
Cultural Topic: the study of a film
Pan’s Labyrinth
- Analysis and essay writing skills for film
Topic 5
Spanish regional identity
- Spanish traditions and customs
- Spanish gastronomy
- Languages of Spanish regions
Grammar
- Present subjunctive of regular verbs
- Perfect tense in the subjunctive
- Using numerals
Topic 5
Historical Heritage in the Spanish Speaking world
- Understanding the civilizations that influenced the cultural heritage of Spain
- Pre-Columbian heritage of Latina America
- Latin American artists and architecture
- Diversity of of Hispanic music and dance.
Grammar
- The subjunctive
- Possessive adjectives
- The imperative
Assessment
Speaking presentation(2min) IRP markscheme.
Topic Test Assessment Listening, Reading and translation Peer and teacher marked
Term 3
Topic 6 (from Year 2 of A level)
Immigration
- Positive and negative aspects of immigration
Grammar
- The present tense
- Imperfect and preterite tenses
- Compound tenses
Literary text:
Como Agua Para Chocolate
Assessment
PPE1 19/05-27/05
Year 13
Term 1
Theme
Multiculturalism in Spanish-speaking society
Topic 1
Immigration (Continued)
- Immigration in the Spanish speaking world
- The problems that illegal immigrants face
Grammar
- The present tense
- Imperfect and preterite tenses
- Compound tenses
Begin Individual research project (IRP) for speaking examination
Continue literary text started last year:
La Casa de Bernarda Alba
Topic 2
Racism
- Racist and xenophobic attitudes
- Measures to combat racism
- Legislation to combat racism
Grammar
- Nouncs and adjectives
- The conditional
- The future tense
Topic 3
Integration
- cultural integration in Hispanic society
- Different cultures and education
- The variety of religion in the Hispanic world
Grammar
- Prepositions
- Pronouns
- Adverbs
Topic 4
Politics and Youth Culture
- The importance of politics in young people’s lives
- Changing attitudes towards politics
Grammar
- Present subjuntive
Assessment
- EB Style Assessment 20/09 – 24/09
Term 2
Theme
Aspects of political life in the Spanish speaking world
Topic 4
Politics and Youth Culture (continued)
- Youth unemployment
- The ideal society
Grammar
- Imperatives
- Perfect subjunctive
Topic 5
Monarchies and dictatorships
- Francisco Franco
- The transition from dictatorship to monarchy
- Dictatorships in Latin America
Grammar
- The preterite
- Imperfect subjunctive
- Sequencing tenses
Topic 6
Popular Movements
- Protests and strikes
- The power of trade unions
- the 15-M movement
- Mothers of the Plaza de 5 de mayo
Grammar
- If clauses + the pluperfect subjunctive
- imperfect subjunctive
- The passive voice
Assessment
- PPE1
- PPE2
Term 3
Exam preparation
- Revision and practice for speaking, listening, reading, writing, translation and essay paper.
Assessment
- A2 Examination
Achieving outstanding outcomes in Spanish – knowing and remembering even more than what is expected in a grammar school A-Level Curriculum
Our assessment practice at SHSG reflects on how successful students have been in knowing, remembering and doing more through the above topics.
To achieve outstanding outcomes in Spanish as a student in Year 13 and achieve an A*-A grade in Spanish, students should demonstrate a wide range of vocabulary and complex language and a highly accurate application of grammar. Delivery is fluent in speech and writing and the student provides evidence of wider reading and research.
Cultural Capital in Year 12-13 Spanish
All topics furnish the student with cultural knowledge specific to Spanish speaking countries and regions.
The individual research project.
Wider reading is essential within each topic area.
Useful websites and independent learning
Language to master in Upper School Spanish (Years 12 – 13)
All tenses, and the subjunctive mood. Accuracy in tense formation and all elements listed within each chapter. The language of debate.