The Thomas Mills High School & Sixth Form Spanish curriculum aims to equip students with foundational language skills while fostering an understanding of Spanish-speaking cultures.
The course covers key areas:
This includes learning core vocabulary, grammar structures, and cultural knowledge to communicate effectively in Spanish. Pupils will develop skills to understand and interpret spoken and written Spanish, alongside fostering independent language acquisition strategies. They are also constantly encouraged to reflect on their own language-learning journey, make connections to their native language and appreciate different cultures. Discussion, role-play and practical language application play a significant role in the curriculum, with a focus on building confidence in speaking and writing Spanish.
For further details about Spanish at Key Stage 3 or 4, or to discuss your child’s progress, please contact the school office.
Knowledge:
Pupils will learn the Spanish alphabet, numbers, basic classroom vocabulary, and key verbs such as ‘tener’ (to have) and ‘ser’ (to be). They will also explore family and pet vocabulary, adjectives for descriptions, and essential phrases for asking and answering simple questions.
Skills:
Pupils will develop their ability to introduce themselves, exchange personal details, and describe family members and pets. They will practise forming basic sentences using the present tense, personal pronouns, and simple connectives. Listening and pronunciation exercises will help them gain confidence in spoken Spanish.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessments:
Pupils will complete listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments to evaluate their ability to introduce themselves, describe their family, and use fundamental Spanish vocabulary correctly.
Knowledge:
This term focuses on vocabulary related to hobbies, sports, music, weather, and describing a dream house. Students will also learn about Spanish celebrities and cultural figures. Grammar topics include opinion phrases, basic past tense recognition, and describing preferences.
Skills:
Pupils will learn to express their opinions about hobbies, music, and celebrities using adjectives and opinion phrases. They will practise describing their home and ideal house, using structured sentences. Listening and speaking exercises will help them recognise different tenses and improve conversational confidence.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessments:
Pupils will complete listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments, testing their ability to describe their hobbies, discuss musical preferences and construct short written pieces about their dream house.
Knowledge:
Pupils will expand their vocabulary to discuss places in town, weekend plans, rural and urban environments, and school life. They will learn to describe their home, neighbourhood, and school subjects, as well as express future aspirations. Grammar topics include describing locations, asking for directions, and school-related phrases.
Skills:
Pupils will practise giving and asking for directions, discussing their weekend plans, and describing their school environment. They will improve their ability to express preferences and opinions in structured sentences while developing conversational skills in real-life scenarios.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessment:
Listening and reading assessments will evaluate students’ comprehension of spoken and written Spanish. They will also complete writing and speaking tasks focused on describing their town, discussing weekend activities, and expressing opinions about school subjects.
Knowledge:
Pupils will learn vocabulary related to past and future holidays, travel, weather, and expressing opinions on experiences abroad. They will also explore topics related to healthy living, including food and exercise. Grammar topics include the perfect and imperfect tenses, sequencing words, the future tense, and the use of intensifiers.
Skills:
Pupils will develop their ability to discuss past and future holidays using different tenses. They will also practice giving opinions on health-related topics, forming more complex sentences with connectives and personal pronouns. Speaking and listening tasks will enhance their ability to communicate fluently and accurately.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessments:
Pupils will complete listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments. These will evaluate their ability to describe past holidays, discuss future plans, and express opinions on health and lifestyle choices.
Knowledge:
This term focuses on vocabulary related to online profiles, social media, shopping habits, fashion, music, TV, and film. Grammar topics include modal verbs, verbs with vowel changes, future and conditional tenses, possessive adjectives, and the use of subordinate clauses.
Skills:
Pupils will improve their ability to discuss media and online culture, describe clothing preferences, and express opinions on music and films. They will practise writing structured responses, translating key phrases, and engaging in discussions using more complex grammatical structures.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessments:
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments will test students’ ability to express opinions on fashion and media, discuss personal preferences, and use a variety of tenses effectively in written and spoken Spanish.
Knowledge:
Pupils will explore daily routines, relationships, environmental issues, and aspects of Hispanic culture. They will also work on a final project about the Spanish-speaking world. Grammar topics include a review of all tenses, opinion phrases, word order, and advanced conjunctions.
Skills:
Pupils will refine their ability to describe daily routines and relationships, express concerns about environmental problems, and discuss cultural topics using complex sentences. They will develop research and presentation skills through their final project on Hispanic countries.
Useful Links
Free KS3 Spanish teaching resources | Page 1 of 2 | Oak National Academy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zcj2tfr
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Assessment:
Listening and reading assessments will evaluate students’ comprehension of daily life and global topics. Speaking and writing tasks will focus on expressing well-structured opinions and demonstrating mastery of key grammatical concepts.
Knowledge:
Pupils will learn to discuss social media, internet usage, and mobile phone technology, examining its impact on young people. They will also explore vocabulary and structures related to describing homes, towns, and regions. Discussions will include environmental issues and their local and global implications.
Skills:
Pupils will refine their ability to express opinions on technology and environmental concerns using comparative and superlative structures. They will improve their descriptive skills when talking about home and surroundings, practice forming detailed spoken responses, and strengthen their ability to use subordinate clauses.
Useful Links
Free Homework & Revision for A Level, GCSE, KS3 & KS2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z8j2tfr
https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/german-secondary-ks4-l/units
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Assessments:
Pupils will complete listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments, testing their ability to discuss technology, describe their local environment, and express informed opinions with fluency and grammatical accuracy.
Knowledge:
This term revisits key GCSE topics weekly, reinforcing grammar and vocabulary across all exam themes. Pupils will engage in structured writing exercises, including 50, 90-word and 150-word essays, and refine their listening and reading comprehension skills. They will analyse past exam papers to familiarise themselves with the question formats and requirements.
Skills:
Pupils will strengthen their exam techniques, including answering oral questions confidently, structuring extended written responses, and improving translation accuracy. They will also practice summarising texts and responding to exemplar speaking questions effectively. They will explore the grammatical requirements needed to get 4-9 in the writing examination. These will include, present, past, future, imperfect, conditional and subjunctive tenses. Coordinating and subordinate clauses. Relative clause, with pronouns, possessive and personal. Modal verbs and impersonal verbs. Prepositions, quantifiers, adverbs and intensifiers.
Useful Links
Free Homework & Revision for A Level, GCSE, KS3 & KS2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z8j2tfr
https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/german-secondary-ks4-l/units
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Assessments:
Assessment will be via the 50, 90 and 150 word essays, as well as retrieval practice on vocabulary each week using the vocabulary booklets for GCSE Foundation and Higher.
Knowledge:
Final revision of all topics
Skills:
All four skills.
Useful Links
Free Homework & Revision for A Level, GCSE, KS3 & KS2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z8j2tfr
https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/german-secondary-ks4-l/units
Learn Spanish Language with Memrise
Duolingo – The world’s best way to learn a language
Assessment:
All four skills will be practised.
Learning a new language, exploring different cultures, communicating with people worldwide, or broadening your global outlook?
Translation, international business, teaching, tourism, journalism, diplomacy, interpreting, or marketing.
Mr M Heath
