English
Curriculum Intent
The aim of the English curriculum is to develop students’ understanding of the world in which they live in and how to communicate their perspectives effectively. We expose students to a variety of texts, authors, genres, time periods and perspectives to develop their tolerance and understanding of others. Students develop as critical thinkers as we encourage them to question the world around them.
KS3
We employ a spiral curriculum in KS3 which embeds and develops key skills that are returned to at the same point every year, building on and developing students’ prior knowledge. All topics are challenging, thought-provoking and relevant to students and their wider world, acting as mirrors to reflect the students’ lives and as windows into the wider world around them. Our topics alternate between a focus on Language, where students demonstrate their creative writing, and Literature, where students analyse writers’ craft.
We make use of an overarching theme for each year which allows students to make connections between a range of texts and topics, understanding how texts can be viewed in different ways. To do this, students explore how both fiction and non-fiction texts are constructs and platforms for writers to present a message on the world, delving into writer’s form, structure and language.
Homework tasks are designed to develop students’ independence, check their knowledge from lessons and to encourage them to think outside of the classroom. Students can expect a variety of homework tasks, such as spelling tests, research projects and creative writing that complement their in-school study.
KS4
Students complete separate AQA English Literature and English Language qualifications. Both courses encourage them to develop personal responses to texts, exploring how writers craft their texts to present a comment on society and to deliver a message. Students build on their knowledge of form, structure and language from KS3 and are able to explore texts in a more critical way, placing them in individual contexts to understand writers’ messages about society.
The overarching theme for KS4 is conflict and so students explore a variety of conflicts across range of text types across two years, both fiction and non-fiction. Students look at how writers present conflict in different ways and different types of conflict (e.g. person-to-person, human vs nature, inner conflict). They then demonstrate their understanding through analytical and creative writing exam-style assessments.
Students develop cultural capital in terms of understanding causes of and effects of contemporary and historic conflict. They are able to recognise situations in which conflict may arise or has arisen in their lives or their community.
