Our aim

Spanish is a major Romance language with rich associated cultures and a vast literary tradition on two continents. It has an estimated 400 million native speakers, and is the official language in 21 countries. While we certainly foster our students’ interest in the Spanish language in its own right, we go much further by exploring the traditions, daily life and popular culture of Spanish-speaking countries.

Students learn how the language is formed and spoken, and put this into context through a good understanding of Spain and the Spanish-speaking world. Alongside the subject-specific skills such as an appreciation of grammar and of cultural norms, students gain broader abilities, such as confidence in public speaking.

The facts

Spanish

Setting

From Year 7

Qualification
IGCSE

Examining Board
Edexcel

When taken
Exam at the end of the two year course; no coursework

Latest results
A* – A 91%

Notable alumni

Edward Henry Palmer (1840-82) was on orientalist, linguist, journalist, barrister, amateur conjuror and foreign agent. In 1882, worried about the effect of the Arabi Pasha revolt on British interests, Gladstone's Government sent him to Egypt on a secret mission to dissuade Arab tribes from joining the Egyptian rebels

Talking complete Benonese

Curiosity Corner

Does it ever feel like those around you are speaking a different language?

If it’s a Perse pupil, they made have made up their own, like Year 10 pupil Ben de Almeida Newton, who invented ‘Benonese’ and created an 84-page textbook to teach it.

He explains:

“Benonese follows the pronunciation of many Indo-European languages, so for English speakers, this shouldn’t be too difficult to learn. It is difficult to practise this language with others as it is not widely known so one method of practising speech is to record oneself and play it back to achieve fluency. Pronunciation is completely regular when it comes to the indicative mood, but later on, in the subjunctive, knowledge of more phonetically challenging languages may be needed to master these sounds.”

View some sample pages on our Perse Studio blog of student work.

Learning journey - Years 8 and 9

Students may either select ab initio Spanish in Year 8, or start Spanish in Year 9 on a fast-track course. At the end of Year 9 all pupils sit the same Spanish exam, therefore the learning curve for the Year 9 beginners is fairly steep.

Year 8 lays the foundations for correct spelling, pronunciation and grammar, and the pupils learn vocabulary relating to key aspects of daily life. In Year 9, the course focuses more closely on grammar, and pupils start to explore IGCSE vocabulary topics such as Hispanic festivals and traditions, the media, fashion and the environment. At the end of Year 9 the pupils sit an IGCSE-style paper at a level which is accessible to them, including an oral test.

Learning journey - IGCSE

The IGCSE course has four components: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

From Year 10 onwards there is a greater emphasis on the spoken language, and pupils have a specific oral lesson with the Language Assistant every fortnight. During Year 10 pupils will start preparing for their oral exam, and will be expected to have completed most of this preparation by Christmas of year 11. At the end of Year 10 they sit a full IGCSE written paper, which covers the five core topics of home and abroad, school and education, family and home life, social activities, and the modern world. Year 10 pupils have the opportunity to take part in the Spanish exchange to Seville.

By Christmas of Year 11 pupils have covered the bulk of the syllabus, and after the January mocks pupils will spend time on consolidation, exam practice, and extension work. Lessons in the ICT room will focus on listening comprehension skills, and more able pupils will be encouraged to work at a post-GCSE level.

Providing stretch

Students wishing to take their learning further can carry out one of the optional investigations set each term, from discovering the works of Hispanic fashion designers to examining traditional sports of the Spanish-speaking world.

A specialist theatre company visits our Year 8 and Year 9 students to perform a play in Spanish. Pupils are delighted to discover that they can understand a play delivered entirely in a foreign language, which is a great confidence booster.

We encourage Year 11 students to enter the Advanced category of the UK Linguistics Olympiad, and in 2016 all six participants from this year group received an award.

Beyond the classroom

The Modern Languages Society organises cultural talks, film screening, competitions, debates, seminars and plays at lunchtime and after school.

Sports broadcast journalist Chris Dennis (BBC, Eurosport, Channel 4) visits the school for a workshop on languages in the workplace to inspire our year 11 language learners. Students carried out a number of journalistic tasks, including preparing a two-way interview in English to summarize an earlier interview in another language.

Spending time in Spain is a superb way of improving linguistic skills as well as enjoying a culturally enriching experience. We have an exchange with a school in Tomares near Seville, during which our pupils have the chance to experience Spanish school life by attending lessons, visit the mosque in Cordoba, or take part in a flamenco workshop.

Pupils can keep up with news from the Spanish-speaking world by browsing a wide range of publications at School, from the insight into popular culture provided by ¡Hola! to comment on current affairs in El Mundo. We encourage them to read authentic materials by borrowing a work from the extensive Spanish language collection in our library.

Our 42 programme of lunchtime lectures also includes languages. Recent speakers include Dr Jennifer Todd (Senior Lecturer in Experimental Psychology at UCL) who spoke about semantics, and Dr Rebecca Mitchell (Perse School and University of Cambridge) who spoke about language endangerment.