In addition to the National Curriculum aims, our ambitious curriculum for MFL at DSTC is designed:

• To prepare students to become successful learners who enjoy learning about the language and exploring their culture, make progress and achieve.
• To create a learning environment where students feel confident to make mistakes and learn from them.
• To provide opportunities for all students to express themselves in another language (listening, speaking, reading and writing skills) with increasing confidence, independence and creativity.

We aspire to give the students the opportunity to build their confidence to express themselves, gauge their own progress and develop skills such as the ability to work in a team, problem-solving skills and open mindedness. We aim to create a learning environment where students feel confident to make mistakes and learn from them.

Complementary Subjects:

English for language terminology, awareness of grammar (e.g tenses), range of vocabulary, complex sentence structures.

Essay subjects (e.g Humanities, English) for general literacy, planning skills, sequencing ideas and wider vocabulary (often French, Latin or Greek in origin)

Science and PE for general knowledge on health and fitness.

KS3

 

On the curriculum journey from Key Stage 3 (Year 7, 8 and 9) to Key Stage 4 (Year 10 to 11) students develop their linguistic competencies in each of the four skill areas; speaking, listening, reading and writing.  In Year 7 topics include sports and hobbies, places in town, school and food, whilst learning how to become more confident with the language, adapting and developing the language with use of opinions, connectives, time phrases, and the use of different tenses.

In Year 8 students progress to cover various topics such as holidays, food and drink and family topics whilst developing understanding of grammar points including all three different tenses. In Year 9 students cover various topics such as free time, professions, holidays and health. They deepen understanding of grammar including complex sentences and more sophisticated vocabulary and syntax.

The Kent University Languages Day provides an opportunity for Year 8 students to sample a range of cultures and see what a university is like. We continue to explore opportunities for future school trips to Spain or extracurricular activities within our country.

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 7	MY LIFE Introducing yourself Personality Age, brothers and sisters Birthday Pets	FREE TIME What you like to do. What you do in your spare time Weather Sports Christmas in Spain	SCHOOL School subjects Opinions School description Breaktime Valentine’s Day	FAMILY AND FRIENDS Family Hair and eye colour Describe what other people look like Where you live Carnival/Easter	WHERE I LIVE Describe your town or village. Telling the time Ordering in a cafe What are you going to do at the weekend	Revision End of Year   Spanish Project
Year 8	HOLIDAYS Past holiday Opinions and reasons	ALL ABOUT ME Phone use Music TV What you did yesterday	FOOD Food you like Mealtimes Ordering a meal Buying for a party	FREE TIME Arranging to go out Making excuses Getting ready to go out Clothes Sporting events	HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION Holiday home Holiday activities Asking for directions Summer camps	End of Year Revision   Spanish Project
Year 9	ALL ABOUT ME Things you like Your weekly routine Films Birthday parties Life as a celebrity	JOBS What you have to do. Jobs you would like to do Your future Describing jobs	HEALTHY LIFESTYLE Food habits Active lifestyle Daily routine Getting fit Ailments	ENVIRONMENT Children’s rights Fair trade Recycling How a town has changed Fundraising	HOLIDAYS Meeting people Buying souvenirs Future plans Making yourself understood	Revision End of Year   GCSE Prep   Spanish Project

Further Reading/Resources:

• CPG Key Stage 3 Spanish Complete Revision & Practice (with Free Online Edition & Audio)

• BBC Spanish Bitesize Key Stage 3 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zfckjxs )

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KS4

 

In Year 10, students who have opted for Spanish as a GCSE Option start a two-year GCSE course with the AQA exam board. In Year 10 students study modules 1-5 and in Year 11 modules 6 to 8.

The examination comprises 4 components, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. All skills are equally-weighted and each contribute 25% towards a student’s final GCSE grade. Students are taught to understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources. They are encouraged to speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say. As far as writing is concerned, by the end of Key Stage 4, students should write at varying lengths, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt.

We are exploring opportunities for future school trips to Spain or extracurricular activities within our country.

	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Year 10	FREE TIME Talking about: Life online Sports and free time activities Making plans to go out What you did last weekend	HOLIDAYS Talking about: Travel plans Festivals in the Spanish Speaking world What you did on a holiday Where you stayed	IDENTITY AND CULTURE Talking about: Your identity Friends and friendship Favourite celebrities Problems and giving advice Family celebrations and traditions	HEALTHY LIFESTYLE Talk about: Healthy daily routines Mealtimes and food trends Old and new habits Illness and injuries	SCHOOL LIFE Talking about: Typical day at school About your studies and opinion Preparation for PPEs	Preparation for End of Year Exams
Year 11	SCHOOL LIFE Talking about: Students and teachers at school How would you change your school? A school trip in the past	HOME AND TOWN The city and how it has changed Preferences where you live Shopping preferences	ENVIRONMENT Talking about: How you help in the community Climate change Actions to help the environment Solutions	JOBS, HOPES AND FUTURE PLANS Talking about: Plans for the future Getting a job Future career intentions Importance of learning Languages Impact of artificial intelligence	GCSE Exam revision	GCSE Exam revision

Further Reading/Resources:

• CPG GUIDE - New GCSE Spanish AQA Complete Revision & Practice with CGP RevisionHub (for exams from 2026)

• GCSE Spanish  BITESIZE - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zjgpg2p