KS4 Spanish

As a student, learning a language allows us to improve our critical thinking skills, our ability to multi-task and improve our memories.  As a person, it makes us a better listener, helps to build relationships and can open up a whole new view of the ever-increasingly interconnected world around us.  Our Spanish GCSE course aims to build on the solid foundation of KS3 and push skills and understanding of the essential components of confidently communicating in a second language.

Exam board:

AQA GCSE Spanish

Further info about the Spanish GCSE

Number of exams:

4 exams (Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing) all worth 25% each

What topics are covered in the GCSE?

The Spanish GCSE is made up of three themes. Within each theme are three topics: 

Theme 1: Identity and relationships

• Topic 1: Identity and relationships
• Topic 2: Healthy Lifestyles
• Topic 3: Education and Work

Theme 2: Popular Culture

• Topic 1: Freetime (Music, Cinema and TV)
• Topic 2: Customs and festivals
• Topic 3: Celebrity Culture

Theme 3:Communication and the world around us.

• Topic 1: Travel and tourism
• Topic 2: Media and technology
• Topic 3: Environment and where we live.

How is the curriculum structured?

Some of the topics are studied in Year 9. In Year 10 and Year 11 we study:

Why is the curriculum sequenced this way?

As is normal for most schools some of our GCSE topics are taught in Year 9. All of these are explicitly returned to, in revision at the end of Year 11. Whilst we are not teaching the GCSE explicitly in Year 9 we aim to give students the vocabulary and skills from these units that can be returned to later in Year 11 for them to succeed in their GCSEs.

Our Year 10 curriculum begins with Travel and Tourism. This topic allows them to practise using a mix of different tenses to extend their work, as well as focusing on refining their translation skills.  We then focus on Life at school and Post-16 at the point when our students are beginning to think of next steps. The topic of jobs and work flows well after talking about Post 16 plans. Finally the new topic of celebrity culture is one that builds on everything they have learnt grammatically but requires students to express themselves with complexity, using the subjunctive among other tenses and moods.

The topics studied at the start of Year 11 are a combination of revision - talking about where we live in combination with some more challenging ideas about the environment and healthy lifestyles. These require a solid base of grammatical ability so are studied at the end of the course and they are mixed with plenty of revision and exam skills. 

Recommended revision guide:

Spanish Revision Guide- Higher

Spanish Revision Guide - Foundation