English

The English department aims to engage, enthuse and inspire students. The department offers a creative and challenging curriculum that places an appreciation of the English language and a strong reading culture at its heart.

Our dedicated teachers are committed to ensuring high expectations of students are met and work collaboratively to support each other. Above all, they pride themselves on the high quality of teaching and learning that students receive.

Key Stage 3 English currriculum

Students follow a mastery curriculum, acquiring key and core GCSE skills which are developed over a two year programme.

In Year 9, students build on this in a ‘bridging’ year where they continue to develop the core skills needed for GCSE but this time using the 9-1 grade criteria. We aim to instil a culture of reading within the department and across the whole school, working collaboratively with the school librarian, through the Accelerated Reader programme.

Years 7 and 8

Students enjoy a range of challenging texts from a variety of genres, including Philip Pullman’s and Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’; poetry clusters; Shakespeare and his world; detective fiction, as well as delving into the origins of our English Language.
The mastery curriculum is designed to build upon the writing skills that students acquired at Key Stage 2, which they develop across two years. They create travel writing pieces from exotic corners of the world; perfect their craft as gothic writers and produce futuristic stories from other worlds.

Year 9

Students develop GCSE level skills through a range of genres and styles, building on their Key Stage 3 learning and preparing for the examined courses.

Key Stage 4 English Curriculum

We follow the AQA GCSE syllabus for English Language and Literature. Last year, we celebrated excellent results with 80% of our students achieving a grade 4 or above in either English Language or English Literature, and student progress being positive. Both attainment and progress have risen sharply over the last three years – a trend which we are dedicated to continuing.

English Language

Students engage with a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, spanning the 18th- 21st centuries
We use a thematic based approach, which enables students to engage with a range of interesting topics and texts
Students are taught how to shape their writing for a range of different purposes. Specifically, they focus on developing creative writing and narrative skills, as well as writing to express a viewpoint on a different topic.