Spanish
We believe that learning a language is one of the most exciting things that you can do at secondary school as it opens doors for students. It is our ambition that King Alfred’s students become adaptable global citizens and increasingly confident linguists. We celebrate our core principles of tolerance and respect as we encourage students to learn more about cultures other than their own, and how these may be both different and similar to what they are used to growing up in and around Wantage.
Curriculum overview
All students learn Spanish (along with French) throughout years 7 and 8. Students then have the option of choosing to continue one or both languages into Year 9. They can then opt again to continue with either one or both languages for GCSE. We also offer both Spanish and French at A Level with individual conversation practice with native speakers available to all A level learners.
The teaching of languages at King Alfred’s is delivered through a bespoke curriculum rooted in carefully designed ‘WAGOLLs’ (What a Good One Looks Like’ – known as parallel texts in some schools) and Knowledge Organisers. These are designed to provide clear scaffolds and chunk learning for all students at the same time as stretching highly able linguists.
Year 7 topics
Terms 1 and 2 Introducing yourself and your family
Looking at key characteristics of the Spanish language. Introducing key core vocabulary including opinions and adjectives.
Terms 3 and 4 Talking about leisure and activities
Exploring what Spanish young people do in their free time. Developing opinion phrases and introducing key irregular verbs.
Terms 5 and 6 Describing where you live
Exploring the similarities and differences between housing and towns across the Spanish speaking world. Blending the present and future tense.
Year 8 topics
Terms 1 and 2 Talking about holidays
Describing where and what you did on holiday using the past tense. Exploring why Spain is so popular as a tourist destination.
Terms 3 and 4 Media and Technology
Describing your use of technology using three different tenses
Exploring the importance of technology and social media across the world.
Terms 5 and 6 Celebrity Culture
Consolidating the use of the past present and future to describe preferences of music and television, Looking at famous Spanish speaking music and film artists.
Year 9
Terms 1 and 2 Spanish Customs and festivals
Exploring different Spanish festivals and describing which festival you would prefer to attend. Introducing the imperfect and conditional tense
Terms 3 and 4 Working with languages
Looking at languages in the working world and the importance of learning a language, combining, and using multiple tenses.
Terms 5 and 6 Travelling in the Spanish Speaking World
Exploring Andalucian culture and South American heritage, consolidating the combination of tenses grammar to describe perfect and disastrous holidays.
Year 10 topics
Term 1 Family and Identity
Revising and revisiting all tenses whilst exploring how to extend simple sentences describing yourself, your family and your relationship.
Term 2 Where you live
Exploring the pros and cons of living in the city or the countryside and revising and revisiting the conditional tense.
Term 3 Education and School life
Developing more complex descriptions of opinions of subjects, your school and your teachers and describing your uniform and rules.
Term 4 Free time and Leisure
Extending descriptions of leisure time, looking at how to improve simple sentences to include more complexity.
Term 5 Technology
Describing the importance of technology and the problems that go alongside the use of social media. Including different timeframes and more complex structures
Term 6 Mock exams and exam strategy
Preparation for the mock speaking exams and looking at exam strategy in preparation for exams and reflection post mock exams.
Year 11 topics
Term 1 World of Work
Exploring the importance of speaking another language in the world of work and the importance of work experience. Developing and improving knowledge and use of different tenses.
Term 2 Social Problems
Exploring the main social problems facing our modern world and using the subjunctive and conditional tense to talk about how to solve these problems.
Term 3 Global Problems
Exploring the impact of the environment and poverty in the world and using a wide range of tenses to answer in complex structures
Term 4 Revision and Exam strategy
Term 5 Revision and Speaking exam