GCSE Exam & Specification
GCSE Exam Board: |
Edexcel |
Link to GCSE Specification: |
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Spanish/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/Specification-Pearson-Edexcel-Level-1-Level-2-GCSE-9-1-Spanish.pdf |
Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of our students in our local context and is underpinned by these 4 guiding principles:
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Rich and Powerful Knowledge: At INA we instil a love of languages and cultures by broadening students’ understanding and appreciation of the diverse and interconnected world we live in. We strive to develop independent and creative learners with strong long-life skills for education, employment, travelling and for life. This will allow our pupils to benefit from cross-cultural friendships, broader career opportunities, exciting travel adventures and deeper insights into how others see the world.
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Objective and Question Driven: Spanish at INA allows our students to develop their communication skills in a foreign language. Each lesson focuses on making progress towards improvement of one of the core four skills: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. Through our online platform for home learning, Quizlet, we have numerous opportunities to ensure these objectives are achieved and that any knowledge gaps are addressed quickly.
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Mastering The Foundations (Literacy and Numeracy): Developing our skillset in a foreign language has two key benefits. Firstly, there is the being able to communicate effectively with a vast number of people can only enhance your life experience and help take you to transformation destinations. However, the hidden advantage is that by studying a new language, we also improve and master our knowledge of English. We frequently make links between the two languages and students are taught to use correct terminology, such a infinitive verbs, nouns and the preterite tense.
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Inclusive and Ambitious: Inclusivity is at the heart of our curriculum. Our Spanish curriculum is sequenced to ensure all students can achieve the best possible outcomes in the classroom, and we dedicate three hours a week in Years 7 and 8 to ensure that students quickly build a strong foundation to support their learning in Key Stage 4. Our ambition is to cultivate well rounded students whose language skills will set them up for success in the multicultural and interconnected world they will live in. We have also recently been to Barcelona on a four-day school trip which helped students to delve deeper into the history and culture of Spain.
Implementation
Our curriculum implementation is shaped across all phases of the academy by a set of shared principles that underpin pedagogy at INA. The following curriculum map outlines the ambitious curriculum your child will experience at AINA.
Key Stage 1 & 2 -
Students are taught about the basics of the Spanish language in order to make progress in understanding its structure, how it is formed and different parts of speech. They will learn the different sounds of a language through choral repetition, songs, and rhymes and making comparisons with the English language. This will help support them grasp how the language works in its basic form. Additionally, they will describe people, places, food, and actions, using topics such as describing family, personal descriptions, describing where they live in order to expand their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words. Furthermore, they will understand key grammar appropriate to the language that is being studied, as well as how to conjugate high-frequency verbs. This will provide a solid basis from which to start to build sentences, acknowledging how these differ or are indeed similar to English.
Key Stage 3 – Students build on the foundations of language learning laid at Key Stage 2. Teaching focuses on developing the breadth and depth of pupils’ competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing, based on a sound foundation of core phonetics, grammar and vocabulary, which students have started to be exposed to in Key Stage 2. The curriculum at this stage enables students to understand and communicate personal and factual information that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy whilst using a range of structures. As students become confident in their grasp of the language, they start to manipulate the language more for themselves, applying core grammar concepts to new situations, which enables them to become more spontaneous in their speaking and writing of that language.
Key Stage 4 – Students enhance and further develop their Spanish language skills by starting the EDEXCEL Spanish GCSE qualification. Students will be able to speak, write and interpret texts, as well as listening recordings on a wide range of different topics, from global issues, such as environmental issues to talking about future plans and a range of future career paths. Furthermore, students will demonstrate an increasing ability to speak and write spontaneously, feeling more confident to manipulate verbs, complex structures and language for themselves, allowing for more spontaneity and a natural approach to speaking, writing and interpreting that language.
Lessons- All lesson develop the three pillars phonics, vocabulary, and grammar. They start with an LST or a ‘do now’ and are sequenced in a progressive manner embedding, recalling, checking and applying knowledge. As lessons progress students can remember and do more. All lessons use Newton’s Nine to progress the learners.
Assessment -Students are assessed every lesson through low stakes quizzing and questioning. Teachers consistently use this information to inform planning. Every half term students complete a diagnostic assessment and at the end of every term they complete an interim assessment. These are more substantive tests which aim to check how much students can remember and apply. The information obtained is then used by the teachers to inform planning and address misconceptions.
Teacher development – We have regular CDT session aimed at developing our teaching practice and sharing good practice. Teachers are also observed informally on a weekly basis and given developmental detailed feedback to progress their learning.
Year 1 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Greeting Numbers to 10, where you live
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Counting to 15 and saying your age
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Colours, body parts, time
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Personality, family.
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Classroom equipment
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 2 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Greetings and numbers Counting to 30, add, subtract and multiply
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Shapes, colours, body parts
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Days of the week, numbers from 1/31
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Weather & Food
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Places in town
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 3 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Days, months, numbers
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Presents and Special occasions
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Food
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Clothes
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Sports
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 4 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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In my town -How do I listen and understand passages made up of familiar language? -How do I have a short conversation where I am saying five or six things? |
My house
-How do I listen and understand messages and dialogues within short passages with complex vocabulary using cognates? -How do I read long texts using familiar language. |
Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Prepositions and furniture
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Present tense, actions
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Nationalities and countries
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 5 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Me Myself and I
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My friends and family
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Spring 1 |
Spring 2 |
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Telling the time
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Meals
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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My house and prepositions
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 6 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Where I live
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Free time activities
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Social media
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School
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Sports
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Recalling vocabulary & grammar learnt thus far
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Year 7 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Myself
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My family
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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My home & town
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My town
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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School
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School & revision
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Year 8 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Role models and free time
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Free time
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Travel
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Accommodation & travel
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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School & future plans
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Jobs, revision
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Year 9 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Relationships & lifestyle
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Lifestyle
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Environment
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Social problems & social media
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Technology & trends
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Celebrity role models & revision
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All Year 9 Subjects Next Year 9 Subject - Computer Science
Year 10 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Media
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Social media and technology
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Family & friends
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Relationships
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Lifestyle and being healthy
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Physical and mental well being
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All Year 10 Subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Computer Science
Year 11 - Modern Foreign Languages
Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
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Using languages beyond the classroom, ambitions, work and technology
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Town, bringing the world together, celebrations & environmental issues
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Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
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Revision - School
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Revision – Who am I, daily life, cultural life
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Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
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Revision of all (Holidays, environment etc)
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Exams |
All Year 11 Subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Computer Science
Support from Home
We understand that you may not have any experience of studying Spanish and this may be a completely new subject for your child. Despite this, there are still many things you can do at home to support.
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Complete the home learning with your child on Quizlet and let them show you how it works.
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Frequently test your child on the ‘core vocabulary’ which they will learn every lesson.
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Have a positive attitude towards learning a new language.
Feedback
Our aim is to ensure feedback helps drive student achievement by providing meaningful information that helps to address misconceptions and close curriculum and knowledge gaps.
Every piece of feedback given to our students should results in an action by the student. The following types of feedback that are given to students at INA are:
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Self and peer assessment
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Written feedback
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Verbal feedback
Students receive written teacher feedback after formative diagnostic or interim assessments. The cycle is as follows:
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A score/percentage for the assessment
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Precise teacher comment/s linked to the curriculum/knowledge gap written in red
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A response/action/redo by the student in green pen
Career Pathways
Studying Spanish equips students with a diverse skill set that is very valuable at higher education a huge asset in the workplace. Communication skills are arguably the most important skill you can develop in order to enhance your career. Moreover, empathy and intercultural curiosity are fostered by making links between the Hispanic world and our own, making Spanish graduates well-rounded candidates for a wide range of careers.
Success in this subject can lead to:
University courses in:
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Modern Foreign Languages
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Law
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History
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Sociology
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Politics
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International Development
Careers in:
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Civil Service
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Business and Finance
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International Law
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Education
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Sport
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Retail
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Fashion
Enrichment & Educational Visits
Enrichment and educational visits in this subject include:
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Barcelona - our four-day residential in the summer term in Year 10.
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British Film Institute
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Cervantes Institute
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Spanish restaurants