At Holbrook Academy, we offer the opportunity to study Spanish (French – Year 11 only). Learning a language opens doors to finding out about new cultures both within Europe and beyond.
Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world being one of the primary languages in South and Central America as well as large sections of the USA – it has an estimated 460 million native speakers which puts it ahead of English!
Key Stage 4
Spanish is offered as an option, working towards the Edexcel GCSE examination. All language qualifications contribute to the EBacc.
A variety of teaching and learning resources are used, including Viva Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Spanish books. Alongside these textbooks we have access to the Pearson ActiveLearn digital learning platform which has a wealth of different tasks and resources to support learning – all pupils will be issued with login details for this. In addition we also use GCSEPod , Seneca Learning , Quizlet , Blooket and pupils find that the Duolingo App is very useful and engaging.
The GCSE course covers five themes which are:
- Identity and Culture
- Local Area, Holiday and Travel
- School
- Future Aspirations, Study and Work
- International and Global Dimension
Key Stage 3
All students study Spanish throughout the three years of KS3.
Progress in Spanish is assessed in the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and equal emphasis is placed on all four areas of attainment.
Home learning is set on a regular basis and includes online tasks, such as reading and listening comprehensions, grammar exercises and vocabulary learning, as well as writing short passages in the target language and preparing translations. In Spanish we use the Pearson Viva course which does the same. As at KS4, alongside these excellent text books, students benefit from access to the Pearson Activelearn digital learning platform, which supports their progress at all levels. We also use Blooket , Linguascope , Quizlet and pupils find that the Duolingo App is a fun way of learning languages.
Spanish lessons actively promote cooperation, empathy and cultural and global awareness.