English

Curriculum Intent and Rationale

Our vision in the English department is to give students a sensitive appreciation of the spoken and written word and equip them with the skills to articulate themselves confidently in a variety of situations, in all walks of life, including both practical and creative skills.

Our aim is to support all students to become fluent writers who can use language with flair; confident and articulate speakers who relish debate; and perceptive and enthusiastic readers of a wide range of texts. We aim to ensure students appreciate the impact of reading for pleasure alongside the need to study set literature and this wider aspect is achieved across the whole school via the DEER programme, alongside multiple opportunities within the Super Curriculum. 

Through such a diverse range of texts, we want students to not only analyse and evaluate the writing of others at a technical linguistic level but also to develop a sensitive awareness of others’ perspectives, experiences and voices.

Implementing our curriculum

Key Stage 3

Students are invited on arrival to the school, to create a ‘Passport’ about themselves which contains creative writing across a range of purposes (e.g. inform, describe, recount etc.). This sets the foundation of writing skills necessary for years 8 and 9 and sits alongside skills such as analytical writing, essay construction and speech writing.

Students get experience of prose, poetry and drama texts in all years. Challenge is introduced from the outset with support to enable students to feel confident and enthusiastic about such texts, for example with year 7 studying a Shakespeare comedy and year 8’s work on 19th century prose. This ensures that students feel confident and have the right tools to address the demands of challenging pre-1900 texts at KS4. Students are encouraged to develop their own opinions and support them with evidence, whether in response to a text or in creating their own writing, with a particular emphasis on building this independence in year 9.

Throughout all years, we foster a culture of reading for pleasure to develop a lifelong habit which supports further learning, intellectual curiosity and wellbeing.

A few of the texts we study include:

• ‘The Lie Tree’ (Hardinge)
• ‘Flour Babies’ (Fine)
• ‘Frankenstein’ (Shelley)
• ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (Shakespeare)
• The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)/ Telling Tales (Agbabi)
• ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry’ (Mildred D. Taylor)
• ‘Ethel and Ernest’ (Briggs)
• Modern and classic poetry 
• ‘To Kill and Mockingbird’ (Lee)
• Comedy sketches and comedic writing
• Non-fiction writing

Key Stage 4

Specification:  OCR

In English Language, students build on the written and analytical skills developed at KS3, developing confidence in formulating their own arguments and being adept in using terminology to express them precisely. Texts used to develop these skills are drawn from a diverse range of writers both modern and classic in anthologies such as the ‘19th-Century Fiction and Non-fiction’ in order to provide a greater breadth of styles, influences and perspectives. Opportunities to write for a range of purposes and audiences allow students to consciously adapt their style for effect, drawing on skills developed through the study of other writers.  

In English Literature, the set texts provide students with an awareness of literary heritage (Shakespeare and pre-1900 literature) but also introduce new, exciting voices through the study of the ‘Towards a World Unknown’ poetry anthology.

A few of the texts we study include:

• ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ (R L Stevenson)
• ‘Towards a World Unknown’ (Poetry anthology)
• ‘Macbeth’ (or alternative Shakespeare)
• ‘An Inspector Calls’ (Priestley)

Key Stage 5