Pool Academy

Spanish

Spanish Curriculum Overview 

Subject: Spanish
Key Stage(s): KS3–KS4
Head of Department: Angela Pook
Date last reviewed: September 2025

 1. Curriculum Intent

Modern foreign languages empower us to communicate, empathise, connect, problem solve and build resilience while raising awareness of global issues and discovering other cultures and traditions.

The MFL curriculum is built around 5 central concepts:

Communication: students will learn to talk and write about themselves and others in a range of topics and tenses, expressing opinions with justification.

Understanding: understand both spoken and written information in different tenses on a range of topics. 

Vocabulary: have a comprehensive knowledge of both high frequency, and topic specific, vocabulary.

Grammar: recognise and use the past, present and future tenses correctly. Know a range of higher level phrases using advanced grammar concepts.

Culture: develop an understanding of the culture of countries in which the target language is spoken and make comparisons between that culture and our own.

Our MFL curriculum:

• passes on a love of our subject, developing a lifelong love of other languages and cultures. 
• is challenging and teaches grammar and vocabulary that students would not understand without expert teaching.
• takes students beyond their own experiences and enables them to participate fully in society. 
• is selective to develop deep understanding, recognising that our students are novice learners.
• leaves nothing to chance; all students access the same knowledge from subject experts.
• is structured around our central concepts: communication, understanding, vocabulary, grammar and culture.
• avoids fixating on GCSE preparation; instead teaches the subject’s knowledge and purpose.
• is structured chronologically each year to provide coherence.
• is structured thematically across units to provide connections and meaning.
• is never finished but evolves from year to year.

By the end of KS3, students can talk about themselves and others in familiar contexts, using high-frequency vocabulary and the present, past, and future tenses. By KS4, students are prepared for GCSE Spanish, communicating confidently across three tenses, expressing opinions on social and global issues, and applying grammar and vocabulary across all four skills.

All lessons are structured using our 12 Teaching Fundamentals, including strategies to check understanding, recap learning, model historical thinking, provide guided practice, improve focus and responses, and support all learners effectively. 

2. Curriculum Implementation

Students are taught using the principles of Explicit Processing Instruction (EPI):

What do we mean by ‘extensive processing instruction’?

• It is led by the teacher and involves whole-class teaching.
• Students are presented with all the information that they need through sentence builders containing both the target language and English vocabulary.
• Before students attempt tasks, they will have been explicitly taught everything that they need.
• Tasks should be procedurally simple. Thinking should be about the subject rather than the activity. 
• Tasks and procedures are repetitive to free up attention. 
• All details of instruction are controlled to minimise student misinterpretations.

Why do we draw upon the principles of extensive processing instruction?

1. Novices: Our students are novice learners, who struggle with remembering, connections and knowing how to use language well.
2. Motivation: extensive processing instruction is motivating. It helps students succeed, which they enjoy.
3. Effectiveness: It’s the most effective type of instruction, grounded in robust evidence.  

How do we apply this to our MFL lessons?

• The subject knowledge to be taught and learned is clear and precise.
• Recaps prioritise knowledge we most want to be remembered in the long term.

• Vocabulary is taught in chunks using sentence builders.

• Whole-class vocabulary practice is led by the teacher.
• Vocabulary is introduced via listening first.

• Live models are prepared in advance and break down writing into manageable steps.

• Checks have a high ratio of student thinking and participation and reveal class understanding.
• Misunderstandings are addressed in the moment or next lesson.
• Self-checks are in every lesson.
• Practice tasks belong in the MFL discipline and don’t distract.
• Time is given for students to practise writing independently in every topic, increasing by Year 11. 
• Circulation and whispered verbal feedback takes place during independent practice. 
• Extensions build in opportunities for stretch and challenge. 

3. Curriculum Impact

Students make strong and sustained progress, demonstrated through improved vocabulary recall, growing confidence with grammar, extended spoken and written responses, and strong GCSE outcomes.

Assessment information is used systematically to refine curriculum planning and teaching. The 12 Teaching Fundamentals provide consistent support and feedback, ensuring measurable progress. Students leave Spanish well prepared for further study or employment, with transferable skills in communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and the confidence to engage with different cultures. 

4. Enrichment and Wider Opportunities

Learning Spanish equips students with valuable linguistic, cultural, and transferable skills that are highly sought after in the workplace. Proficiency in Spanish opens opportunities in education, international business, law, diplomacy, media, healthcare, and travel and tourism. Students develop strong communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and cultural awareness skills, enabling them to work confidently with diverse communities and in global contexts. By combining language competence with these transferable skills, Spanish prepares students for further study, professional opportunities, and success in an increasingly interconnected world. 

5. Quality Assurance and Review

The curriculum is reviewed regularly through assessment analysis, student voice and professional development. Findings are used to continuously improve curriculum design, teaching quality and student outcomes. The use of the 12 Teaching Fundamentals is regularly monitored to ensure consistency and impact across the department.

 This model demonstrates the expected level of clarity, ambition and alignment with the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework from November 2025.