Spanish

Spanish is among the world’s most dynamic and widely spoken modern languages. It is currently spoken by at least 530 million people, which makes it the fourth most commonly spoken language globally. Learning Spanish opens the door for students to communicate with almost every country in South America and over a half a billion speakers worldwide.

GCSE

Pupils at Harrodian study the Edexcel Pearson GCSE course. For full details see the Edexcel website or the Harrodian GCSE Prospectus.

Course Introduction

Our teachers take GCSE pupils for three lessons a week and there is also a weekly oral practice session with our language assistant. The groups are relatively small so pupils get plenty of opportunities for one-to-one attention. The focus is squarely on the four main language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing but we also make sure we spend as much time as possible developing students’ cultural knowledge of the country where the target language is spoken through the study of excerpts of literary texts and the use of authentic material. 

A Level

Students study the Edexcel A Level course, taking six lessons a week with one to one reinforcement of spoken skills. For full details of the course please refer to the Edexcel website or the Harrodian Sixth Form Prospectus.

Course Introduction

A Level Spanish builds on students’ linguistic skills while developing their capacity to think analytically and express their ideas fluently and accurately in written, spoken and even ‘on-line’ media. Through studying diverse aspects of history, politics, art, traditional and contemporary culture, you will develop a critical and analytical insight into Spanish and South American culture, in particular by focusing on a film in the first year and a book in the second year. At the same time, you will build on your communication skills and your vocabulary so that you are able to regularly discuss and debate a wide-range of topical issues in a Spanish and South American context such as relationships and family structure, modern technology, work and education, music, tourism, cultures and traditions. In the second year, you will also focus on Spanish history, specifically the Spanish civil war, the dictatorship and the transition to democracy.

For more specific year-by-year information, please refer to our Curriculum Handbooks/Information Booklets. 

Extracurricular

Club for bilingual students who want to sit the GCSE early. 

There are opportunities to join trips to watch Spanish films and theatre performances and to attend students’ conferences.

Staff

Head of Modern Languages: Sandrine Montet 

Deputy Head of Modern Languages: Beatrice Albert

Head of Spanish: Teresa Alsedo 

Other teachers of Spanish and Language Assistants: please select the relevant department on the dropdown menu to view our full staff list by clicking here.