¡Bienvenidos! The study of a modern foreign language is arguably as important now in Britain as it ever has been. Spanish is the fourth-most spoken language in the world and is spoken as an official language across 20 different countries.
The opportunities that arise from learning this dynamic language are varied: from travelling across Central and Latin America to working in one of Europe’s major institutions – Spanish speakers literally have the world at their fingertips. Many of our students are also surprised to learn how varied Spain is itself as a country in terms of politics, culture, language and geography.
Lower School
Middle School
Sixth Form
74.2%
9–7 at GCSE 2023
56.1%
9–8 at GCSE 2023
100%
A*–B at A level 2023
Academic enrichment
The Spanish Department runs two week-long study trips a year: a Year 11 trip to Salamanca and a Sixth Form trip to Valencia. On both of these trips, students stay with host families and are able to experience a slice of Spanish family life. During the day students attend lessons in the morning and participate in cultural activities in the afternoon and evening. They are a fantastic introduction to visiting Spain.
All Sixth Form linguists are invited to join the Joint MFL Society. The highlight of this is our January MFL Society lecture and dinner which, this year, also included karaoke in the foreign language. We maintain regular contact with Abingdon School and organise a number of social and academic events with them throughout the year, including online talks, tapas evenings and film nights.
We are fortunate to be situated close enough to London to take advantage of the capital’s cultural offerings. Recent highlights include a Sixth Form trip to visit the Royal Academy Hispanic Arts exhibition followed by a trip to the theatre to see La Casa de Bernarda Alba, which is our A level set text.
Extracurricular
Year 7 and 8 students have the opportunity to join our popular Lower School MFL Club, which covers a variety of cultural and linguistic sessions across the languages taught. In Spanish, this includes a half term studying about the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ and re-creating an ‘ofrenda’ – a typical Mexican shrine.
