Spanish GCSE

Full name of specification

GCSE Spanish

Exam board specification link

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/spanish-8698

What is GCSE Spanish?

Learning Spanish as a foreign language opens a whole new world of opportunities and broadens our students’ horizons to a variety of cultures and experiences which will contribute to understand and value positively the global society we live and work in.

Through learning Spanish students will acquire transferable lifelong skills that will be essential to their future education, leisure and employment both nationally and internationally.

Furthermore, by developing their Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading skills will not only consolidate the knowledge of their own language, lay the foundations for acquisition of another foreign language, gain a highly demanded qualification but also create independent, creative and confident global citizens

Why study this course?

Students will develop their ability to understand, communicate and express their ideas in Spanish and deepen their knowledge about how the language works as well as enrich their vocabulary accessing to both spoken and written material including literary texts in Spanish covering a wide variety of current international topics, such as environment, health, social challenges, employment and tourism among others.
Students will gain understanding of the culture and identity of Spanish speaking countries by learning about communities, traditions and festivals helping develop a passion for language learning and enable students to embrace opportunities in a multilingual global society.

What can you expect from this course?

Year 10 and Year 11 content follows AQA GCSE specification covering three themes:

Theme 1: Self, family, friends and festivals, culture.

Theme 2: Local, social and global issues.

Theme 3: Education, future plans and careers.

Students have 3 lessons a week. After a baseline test, year 10 will cover Theme 1 since the topics in this theme are the closest to our students (covering from free time to technology and an introduction to some Spanish festivals), followed by theme 3 (students who have joined our schools would be getting settled and be more familiar with our school and would have started to look forward to their future careers), finally theme 2 would be covered last due to the fact that this topic requires some degree of reflexion on complex issues such as environment, health, social issues.

The topics are also organised in a spiral way to enable consolidation and deepening of knowledge and skills at GCSE level. In year 10 there will be a focus on vocabulary and writing and speaking (since they are the productive and slower skills to be acquired) whereas in year 11 it will shift to revisiting previous topics with a big emphasis on vocab, grammar, exam techniques and revision.

Students start from very different starting points from total beginners to bilingual students. some might have no knowledge of Spanish or any other language, some might be native speakers but needed tweaking their knowledge. Differentiation and tailor-made lessons are crucial for the success of the subject in an extremely mixed ability and skilled class. Students are encouraged to learn independently, so they set their very own pace.

How is it assessed?

There are four exams at the end of the two years at both Foundation and Higher Tier: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. All four skills are equally weighted. Assessments are based on 3 Themes covering 12 subtopics outlined in section 3 above.

Evaluation is continuous, writing assessments on different topics take place every other week. Individual feedback is given both written and verbally in the following lesson. So students can act upon it. Apart from PPEs set by school calendar, students will also take listening and reading tests periodically and at least a mock speaking exam (normally in October and/or February of Year 11).

What resources will we use?

All resources and links of the full course are available www.missmallo.weebly.com, including all the topics are covered in booklets available in English and Spanish and stretching real material.

Google classroom is an essential platform to help students organise their assignments, meet deadlines and share resources. As well as a support tool for those students to keep up to date if they miss any lessons.

Additionally, students are given printed copies of all the resources and there are a plethora of books, readers, documents, guides, flashcards, grammars, revision games, dictionaries, thesaurus, real Spanish material in the Spanish Classroom and language Hub that students use and can borrow.

How will this prepare me?

GCSE Spanish can open many doors for you both academically and professionally. It provides you with strong foundations for further language study in school or higher education or employment.

GCSE Spanish will broaden your horizons by giving you the tools to become an independent linguist who will be able to use their knowledge of Spanish to get by in Spanish Speaking Countries.

What will I study?

In year one, students will complete an introduction to photography and lens-based media. This will cover composition, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, video/stop motion and photo editing using Photoshop. For the remaining time in year one, students will complete a series of small projects responding to a range of different themes (past examples have included Movement, environment and Macro Photography). The focus of the projects will be on developing a range of in-camera skills and developing an analytical thought process and connecting photography to the photographic industry. Students will participate in school trips that expand their skills and knowledge in the subject. They will be expected to shoot in various locations that will range from our in-school studio to external locations to improve and develop their skills in studio lighting and location lighting. The work created in year one will be used to create a portfolio, which will prepare students for interviews for college and apprenticeships.

In Year 2, students will begin by researching and planning a personal investigation project (Worth 60% of their overall GCSE grade). This will be an opportunity for students to develop the skills learnt in year one and specialise in one (or more) area(s) of Photography – Lens-based media. Students who opt for the Photography qualification may focus on more traditional skills (landscape photography, fashion and advertising, product photography, events and commercial photography, digital work, moving images, and more). Students will then complete an Externally Set assignment (Worth 40% of overall grade) which will follow the same process as previous projects, and will culminate in a practical exam where students can create responses to the project.