The Spanish department teaches Spanish to Year 7,8, 9, 10 and 11 pupils. Our year 11 pupils sit a GCSE in Spanish with the exam board Edexcel.
Year 7, 8 and 9
Currently during Year 7, 8 and 9 all pupils study one to two hours of Spanish per week, which enables the majority of pupils to build on their learning of this language at Primary School. Pupils who have not studied Spanish before arriving at Buile Hill need not worry as they will be given support to help them cover the basics of the language and will soon catch up to the rest of the class.
In Year 7, 8 and 9 the topics range from 'My Family' in year 7 which tests the pupils ability at describing different people, to 'My holidays' in year 8 which exercises pupils ability in using different tenses. In year 9 pupils look at topics such as “school and jobs” and refine their understanding of using different tenses.
Year 10 and 11 (GCSE course)
At the end of Year 9 pupils can opt to study Spanish at GCSE. All lessons are taught by specialist teachers. All pupils have have three hours a week of Spanish, with year 11 have an extra lesson after school on a Thursday. Our groups are smaller than average and we work with trainee teachers and Spanish-speaking volunteers to give the pupils as much exposure to and practice of the Spanish language as possible. All students follow the Edexcel syllabus and complete a Q&A booklet during Year 10 which helps them to prepare for both the speaking and writing exams. They cover topics such as modern media and film, applying for jobs and holiday plans.
The GCSE courses are all assessed using the following criteria: 25% reading exam, 25% speaking exam, 25% listening exam and 25% writing exam. These exams all take place in April - June of Year 11.
In Years 7, 8 and 9 pupils are set homework fortnightly. This usually includes learning and practising vocabulary which is then tested in lesson time. In Years 10-11 students are set homework weekly. This supports their learning in lessons and ranges from learning new vocabulary to completing past papers. In year 11 students complete an hour a week extended day session, during which they continue their preparation for their GCSE.
The department runs popular trips every year. In the past we have run trips to Barcelona and Madrid, Spain and the Christmas Markets in Lille, France. In 2020 the department will run a trip to Spain for year 8, 9 and 10.
An important date in the Spanish department calendar is Dia de la Hispanidad which falls on the 12th September. On this day, and/or the week running up to the day, the department holds numerous popular activities throughout the school. From food festivals to mystery voice competitions, the event has grown in stature from year to year.
The MFL department is very proud of the range of languages spoken by pupils in the school. As far as possible we facilitate pupils taking a GCSE in a home or first language and our results are consistently excellent, with the majority of pupils achieving the highest grades. In the past we have helped pupils enter and complete a GCSE in Portuguese, Polish, Urdu, French, Arabic, Spanish, German and Italian.