English
Head of Department – Mr M Crawford
KS3
Year 7
Pupils are encouraged to gain a variety of skills in reading, writing and presenting. Alongside a focus on basic literacy, students will be reading independently, analysing texts, producing texts for different audiences and purposes and developing core communication skills. We also place an emphasis on creativity through poetry writing and encourage innovative approaches to teaching Shakespeare plays as a performance not on a page!
The new Year 7 curriculum for September 2024 has an overarching theme of ‘Conflict’ and students have the chance to engage with the following units:
Term 1
The Novel – Treasure Island
Descriptive Writing – inspired by Stevenson’s novel
Heroes & Villains – building students’ knowledge on archetypal characters from the Treasure Island unit
Roald Dahl – author study
Term 2
Study of rhetoric – The Diary of Anne Frank
Speech Writing – inspired by the study of Anne Frank
Conflict anthology – an anthology of war poetry
Term 3
Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare study
Comedy writing – inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Novel – The Girl of Ink and Stars
End of Year Exam
Year 8
Building on year 7 skills, the year 8 curriculum will allow pupils to diversify their knowledge of different texts – including modern drama and discursive writing. They will also develop the ability to compare texts and form cohesive arguments.
Term 1 – Rebellion & Revolution
Modern Novel – Coram Boy
Discursive Writing
Term 2 – Study of The Gothic
Gothic Writing
Modern play – Frankenstein (play version)
Term 3 – Storytelling through the Ages
Short stories anthology – diverse stories through the ages of Literature
Descriptive Writing
End of Year Exam
Year 9
This year, students will be studying a range of texts to cover the genres that they are to expect at GCSE. It will also allow them to gain the range of skills they will need at GCSE and provide a strong foundation for this.
Term 1 – Being Different
Modern Novel – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Viewpoints Writing: Speeches
Term 2 – Identity & Society
Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet
Letter writing
Term 3 – Study of Dystopian Fiction
Dystopian Fiction Anthology – dystopian extracts from the greatest writers
Dystopian writing
End of Year Exam
KS4
GCSE English Language (8700)
- Exam board AQA
- Exam board subject website
- Link to past papers
Additional information of use to students/parents during study
Key stage 4 (Years 10 and 11)
The GCSE English Language examinations will be sat by all students in the Summer of Year 11. Students will study a range of fiction texts as reading stimulus. They will be required to engage with the creativity and the effects created by the writers’ for Paper 1. They will then be required to write creatively themselves reflecting the style of the texts which they have studied in the first section. For Paper 2, students will study a range of non-fiction texts from modern and historical contexts. They will then be required to write in a specified genre and purpose, such as a letter or speech reflecting real life non-fiction forms. The extracts will be unseen for both of the English Language papers but students will study a variety of different styles and genres in preparation.
All students will also be required to complete the Spoken Language Endorsement, which is a statutory requirement from the exam board. This consists of a short presentation in front of an audience and responding to audience questioning. For this students are awarded with a Pass, Merit or Distinction.
GCSE English Literature (8702)
- Exam Board AQA
- Exam board subject website
- Link to past papers
Key stage 4 (Years 10 and 11)
Additional information of use to students/parents during study
The GCSE English Literature examinations will now be sat by all students in the Summer term of Year 10. All assessments are closed book: any stimulus materials required will be provided as part of the assessment. We would highly recommend that students purchase copies of the key texts so they can re-read and annotate to aid revision. Copies can be purchased at reasonable cost online or from the English Department for approximately £1 per copy. Set texts are: Macbeth (Shakespeare), A Christmas Carol (Dickens) and An Inspector Calls (Priestley).
KS5
A Level English Language (H470)
Exam board: OCR
English Literature A (7712)
- Exam board: AQA
- Exam board subject website
- Course specification
- Link to past papers
Additional information of use to students/parents during study:
Independent learning resources will be made available to students on the student share drive. It is expected that these tasks will be completed in school study time or at home to help consolidate and develop the learning taking place in the classroom. We would highly recommend that students purchase copies of the key texts so they can re-read and annotate to aid revision. Copies can be purchased at a reasonable cost online. The key texts are: Othello (Shakespeare), Skirrid Hill (Sheers), A Streetcar Named Desire (Williams), The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood) Jane Eyre (Bronte).