English
Name of Department: English
Head of Department: Miss H Gregg
English Language & English Literature
Our approach to the English curriculum
The English Department welcomes our students to study a rich and responsive curriculum that is designed to be challenging, inclusive and effective in ensuring students are prepared for their futures, not only in education, but life in the wider world. It is important to us that students are nurtured to be ambitious, motivated and curious to learn as we travel together through our curriculum. We are committed to developing students’ critical and personal skills during their time with us, so they feel confident in achieving their potential in our subject. They will have opportunities to read, write, speak and listen as we immerse them in a range of textual experiences that will foster curiosity and a love of reading. The subject’s contribution to disciplinary literacy acts as a springboard to access all other subjects and beyond.
Our thematic curriculum prioritises a breadth of genres, writers, time periods and topics with the intention to develop well-rounded learners for life who can lean on a great wealth of knowledge to make connections and bring understanding to new information they encounter. The texts studied strike a balance between ensuring students are proud of their heritage but also broaden their horizons with a diverse canon of texts that model tolerance and respect. Our ambitious sequence of units is designed so that all students, irrespective of their starting points, build expertise in decoding and responding to stimulating texts and in crafting their speech and their writing for specific, real-world audiences and purposes. By carefully linking formative and summative assessment tasks within each unit, we support our learners to become reflective as they pursue excellence in our subject which they can then carry with them into the wider world. Through extra-curricular clubs and trips and cross-curricular links we aim for learners to engage with English on and off the page, building cultural capital and to experience many of the ways it can enrich their lives. With interactive, adaptive and independent programmes of learning alongside our curriculum to support progress, we also recognise our responsibility to develop the whole child, socially, morally and spiritually. All we ask is that our students be ready, respectful and responsible as we ‘Love and serve through Christ.’
Curriculum content
Key Stage 3
At KS3 we lay the foundations for our students to “Read widely with open minds”. The curriculum aims to develop student’s love of reading through a broad range of texts, including those from literary heritage and high-quality non-fiction. Students will learn metacognitive approaches for raising to the challenge of reading more complex texts, learning new vocabulary, making inferences, drawing on texts’ contexts. They will also develop their critical reading skills through studying texts through different lenses such as figurative language, vocabulary choices, grammar, structure and whole text organisation. Our KS3 Curriculum begins students’ journeys to “Write passionately for powerful impact”. Throughout their writing, students demonstrate an application of their extensive vocabulary and broad knowledge of genres to produce writing for a wide range of genres, audiences and purposes. Students will also continue to develop accuracy in their writing from KS2 so that they can write using high proficiency in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Finally, we provide key opportunities to “Speak confidently and with conviction” with a range of opportunities provided at KS3 to develop their skills through drama, formal presentation and debate.
Key Stage 4
At KS4 all students will follow the AQA English Language and English Literature GCSE. Students continue to “Read widely with open minds” applying their skills and knowledge from KS3 to increasingly more difficult texts. The student of English Literature allows students to engage with plays, poetry and novels from the Literary Canon, applying their contextual knowledge from KS3. They will further develop their critical reading skills through studying texts through different lenses and interpretations. At KS4 students will demonstrate an application of skills to “Write passionately for powerful impact”. Students will apply the skills mastered at KS3 to create more complex texts under the concepts ‘Explorations in Creative Writing’ and ‘Writing Viewpoints and Perspectives’. Finally, students are able to demonstrate their skills in “Speaking confidently and with conviction” through the ‘Spoken Language’ component where students will be able to articulate complex ideas, develop their own understanding and engage with others through spoken language.
Progression Map
How you can find out more about the English curriculum:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-8702
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-language-8700
Faculty Leader contact: hgregg@sasyorks.org