In English, our students gain a wide-ranging and thorough appreciation of both literature and language, in order to help to prepare them for the next stage of their lives. We aim to encourage a love of reading and writing that underpins academic success in the broader curriculum, as well as developing a deeper understanding of the links between ourselves, people from different times and across cultures. As a department, we feel that this reflects the world we live in, both in terms of our local community and in terms of our own school community. Our provision is designed to develop the high level skills that the students come to us with; we foster academic rigour, perceptive analysis and sophisticated communication skills, in order to match the needs of our academically selective cohort.

We firmly believe that there is a genre to suit everyone and that everyone deserves the time and space to enjoy reading for pleasure. Reading is also the key to success across all subjects, so we encourage our students to become critical readers of anything and everything, from Shakespeare to advertising slogans. As well as developing analysis and interpretation skills, we use texts such as Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns and Prebble’s Enron to encourage debate and discussion of moral, social, emotional and political issues. We encourage reading for pleasure, be it manga, graphic novels, nineteenth century Gothic horror or autobiographies. Reading helps our students to connect to each other and to the outside world, developing a sense of community. However, through reading we can not only see our own place in the world more clearly, but we can extend the horizons of many of our students, challenging mindsets and introducing new cultural ideas and practices.

Writing provides a crucial opportunity for creativity and conceptualised thinking. We encourage students to take risks, to develop sophisticated vocabulary and to craft their writing in an original and nuanced way, in both fiction and non-fiction writing. Whilst building on firm foundations of grammatical accuracy, structure and written form, students develop fluent and articulate writing. Through creative and innovative teaching, we encourage students to develop the skills to articulate their thinking and to express themselves concisely and coherently, not just for examinations but in order to support their academic success across subjects and throughout life. There are numerous competitions and opportunities to write both fiction and non-fiction, giving students a means to develop their own unique voice.

Oracy plays a vital role in our teaching of English, helping students to organise and develop abstract ideas and concepts both academically and personally. Whether engaging in the cut and thrust of debate, discussing themes in poetry, presenting research or taking part in a performance of a play, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to express themselves orally in lessons. Progress in speaking and listening is measured in various ways including a presentation at GCSE level. A-level lessons are often discussion-led, allowing us to explore ideas and perspectives whilst encouraging students to make independent judgments.

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English at Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3, we build on the range of experiences that our students have had at Key Stage 2, working closely with primary colleagues in their literacy hubs and at regular meetings to discuss the changing nature of Key Stage 2.  Students arrive with a range of skills that are assessed through the Key Stage 2 Sats exam; the analysis of this data enables our staff to work with students in a focused way, informing our teaching and helping us to identify students who may benefit from challenge or support in specific areas. We also tailor our teaching style to encourage a smoother transition into secondary school English, for example scaffolding writing as we build up to independent, timed pieces needed at Key Stage 4.

The content of the curriculum at Key Stage 3 is designed to engage our increasingly diverse cohort, who are drawn from a number of primary settings. We begin with a modern novel in order to engage students and promote reading for pleasure. This also provides a smooth transition, using familiar skills but developing these for our high ability cohort. This is then built on with analysis and language production activities that stretch and challenge the students, such as poetry analysis and non-fiction reading in Year 7. We have introduced a Mechanics of Language unit that delves deeper into grammar and successful communication.

Year 7	Coram Boy/Witch Child	New CAP	Flawed	Short Stories	Romeo and Juliet
	HT1 and HT2 (12 weeks)	HT3 (6 weeks)	HT4 + 2 weeks (8 weeks)	HT 5 (4 weeks)	HT6 (6 weeks)
Reading	Infer from a text	Distinguish fact and opinion	Explain the difference between analysis and inference	Revisit the difference between analysis and inference	Revisit the difference between analysis and inference
	Explain the effect of writer’s choices	Explore the differences between viewpoints	Explore and analyse language and imagery	Analyse effects of first, second and third person narrators	Deepen exploration and analysis of language and imagery
	Annotate a short extract simply	Identify key features of poetry:	Analyse meaning without an acronym?	Understand the differences between narrative voices	Analyse meaning without an acronym?
	Annotate a quotation for technique and effect	Identify the sonnet form and structure	Analyse an extract	Analyse how the writer uses structural features of the dystopian genre in the short story	Annotate an extract
	Select quotations	Begin to analyse the effect of writer’s choices	Identify and explain authorial purpose	Revisit the three-part narrative structure	Annotate a quotation for technique and effect
	Identify and describe the effect of similes, metaphors and personification		Identify the features of the dystopian genre		Identify and explain authorial purpose
	Introduction to Victorian context		Understand the effects of using a first person narrative voice		Identify and describe the effect of elements of stagecraft
			Between narrative voices (first/second/third )		Identify dramatic features: soliloquy, asides, blank verse, prose
			Identify and analyse how the writer uses structural features of the dystopian genre		Begin to explore symbolic meaning
Writing	Writing narrative openings HT1	Develop skill in controlling register (informal/formal)	Explain the difference between descriptive and narrative writing
	Plan and write a narrative using the three-part structure HT1	Write, and where appropriate, perform, texts that present different viewpoints	Write a first-person narrative	Plan and write a narrative using the three-part structure
	Identify and explore the effects of the three-part narrative structure in the text HT1	Develop creative and experimental use of language, including figurative language	Write a description using: varied sentences structure, varied punctuation, figurative language	Revisit ways that writers control tension using structure and language and sentence structure
	Identify ways that writers control tension using structure HT1			Write a section of a narrative that includes rising tension
	Write a section of a narrative that includes rising tension HT1			Write a part of a narrative in different voices and explore the differences in effect
	Describe what transactional writing is HT2
	Identify the features of appropriate forms of transactional writing e.g. letters, podcasts, interviews, blogs, articles HT2
	Identify and use appropriate register (informal/formal) HT2
	Write, and where appropriate, perform, texts that present viewpoints HT2
Grammar	What is a sentence?	Commas	Brackets/dashes/colons	Apostrophes/inverted commas	Semi colons/hyphens
	Revise parts of speech	Connectives and conjunctions	Explore complex sentence structures for writing using figurative devices

Year 8	Stone Cold	Gothic	Noughts and Crosses	Discovery?	Twelfth Night
	HT1	HT2	HT3	HT4 and HT5	HT6
Reading	Explain the concept of dramatic irony	List the features of the gothic genre	Describe the features of a modern play (prologue, epilogue, chorus, stage directions, props, acts and scenes)	Explain what an extended metaphor is	Read and analyse a play
	Identify tone and mood	Identify and analyse the use of pathetic fallacy	Analyse the development of character and theme	List the main rhetorical features of a speech (repetition, direct address, use of pronouns, imagery)	List the features of the sonnet form and structure (volta, 14 lines Shakespearean sonnet form rhyme scheme) - link back to sonnet in R and J
	Define linear narrative and dual narrative	List, identify and analyse language features of the gothic and the detective genres	Link texts (R and J/ N and C)	Identify and analyse extended metaphor	Outline the features of comedy/misrule
	Analyse the effects of a dual narrative	List, identify and analyse the structural features of the gothic and the detective genres		Identify differing viewpoints and analyse how writers use language to convey differing viewpoints	Build on Y7 understanding of: exploration and analysis of language and imagery, dramatic features: soliloquy, asides, blank verse, prose
	Define flashback and foreshadowing, identify in the text and analyse the effect	Identify tone and mood and how it has been created		Analyse the use of rhetoric
		Describe the use of temporal structure in descriptive writing		Analyse how structure is used in non-fiction writing to create coherence
				Describe what is meant by a summary (focus, information retrieval, inference)
				Write a summary
				Synthesise information
Writing	Write a narrative using the three-part structure	Produce descriptive writing using extended metaphor and temporal structure	Write dialogue	Use different ways of planning and structuring descriptive writing: using the senses, box planning, film method
	Write a dual narrative, creating two different narrative voices	Plan writing using the box method and the sense method	Write a monologue, creating a unique voice for a character	Write a speech
	Use flashback and foreshadowing as a structural device in a narrative			Makes links between ideas when writing a speech, using connectives/conjunctions, extended metaphor/semantic field, adverbial phrases
Grammar	Concepts of grammar	Nouns	Verbs, active, passive	Grammar / mood (imperative, interrogative)
	Word order	Adjectives		Sentence variety (complex/compound)

Year 9	Of Mice and Men	New CAP	Shakespeare and non-fiction	Station 11	Short Stories
	HT1 and HT2 (8 weeks)	HT2 (4 weeks)	HT3 and HT4 (12 weeks)	HT5 and HT6 (8 weeks)	HT6 (4 weeks)
Reading	Describe how a cyclical narrative is structured and describe effect.	Define and identify poetic techniques, including form and structure.	Analyse extended metaphor use.	Plan an extract to whole essay	Define omniscient /limited narrators
	Analyse the presentation of character	Analyse the effects of language, form and structure	Describe the effects of tone, irony, dramatic irony.	Develop a line of argument in analytical writing	Define the terms: reliable narrator, unreliable narrator,  naïve narrator
	Explore how themes are presented	Explore poetic voice and intention	Define key features of language and structure in Shakespeare’s plays	Analyse the structure of a text/novel	Analyse the effect of structure of a short story
	Identify how context has shaped authorial intention		Describe how context has shaped authorial intention	List the features of the sci-fi genre	Make links between texts
			Describe the features of tragedy (catharsis, anagnorisis, peripeteia, hamartia, hubris) and their effect on the audience	Develop vocabulary for academic writing
			Analyse the presentation of character development and effect		Write an extract to whole text essay
			Analyse authorial intention in the exploration of theme		Begin to explore alternative interpretations
			Analyse the use of language and structure in a non-fiction text
			Identify and describe the effects of rhetorical devices
Writing	Write a description using flashback/second person perspective	Write a description	Effectively structure a line of argument in non-fiction writing	Write a narrative using a flashback/non-linear	Write a split or dual narrative
		Use a variety of sentence structures for effect	Use a range of rhetorical devices and sentence structures in non-fiction writing
		Use an extended metaphor and/or semantic field
Grammar	Vocabulary development	Sentence structures	Whole text cohesion, discourse markers	Develop vocabulary for academic writing	Register, tone, voice

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GCSE Curriculum

All students study both English Language and English Literature across Year 10 and 11, reflecting the academic nature of our cohort. This follows on from a foundation year in Year 9 where we develop skills such as analysis of structure, as well as new skills such as the use of context to support literary analysis. The course builds upon skills introduced in Key Stage 3 and introduces new skills such as synthesis, evaluation and comparison of viewpoints and perspectives in texts written from different time periods.  Students are encouraged to develop their interpretation of texts, forming independent opinions and justifying their views in verbal and written forms.  There is opportunity for close analysis of how writers manipulate their readers’ responses, which includes reading polemic writing on worldwide issues and ethical debates, as appropriate for the academic ability of our students. Fiction texts are selected to open up discussions, promote cultural understanding and provide scope for high level analysis, for example using extracts from The Road, The Help, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The God of Small Things.

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A Level Curriculum

A-Level English Language

The A-Level English Language course focuses on how we use language as well as how language has developed over time. It is very popular with students and many go on to study either Language or Linguistics at University.  Students are given the opportunity to study an area of English that particularly interests them in their individual NEA project. They also develop creative writing skills in the Original Writing element of the course.

Students are given a strong grounding in grammar, syntax and linguistics from which to develop their own writing.

A-Level English Literature

The study of literature encourages enjoyment of literary studies based on an informed personal response to a range of texts. This course covers three components in discrete genres of study: poetry, drama and prose to allow learners to focus on the conventions and traditions of each genre in turn, whilst placing them in a relevant literary and historical context. A further component offers unseen prose and poetry to allow learners to focus separately on applying the skills of literary analysis acquired during the course as a whole. A vital aspect of the course is the development of interpretation and the discussion of the interpretations of others, a skill that promotes both autonomous thinking and an appreciation for the views of others.  Students are required to read widely and independently both set texts, such as Jane Eyre  and others that they have selected for themselves in their prose study ( coursework ), such as The Kite Runner, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Vernon God Little.

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The enriched curriculum

In English,  there are a range of opportunities for students to engage on a wider level and develop cultural experiences as well as transferable skills, such as communication, team work and self-confidence.  The English Department runs various reading groups as well as a debating society. Each year, there are drama productions, either whole school or as part of the House Drama competition.  We have visiting authors, theatre groups, live streaming of national productions and a variety of reading and writing competitions, encouraging students to explore English in various different media.  There are trips to support the curriculum such as theatre trips, a visit to the Imperial War Museum North during Key Stage 4, residential courses for writing and lectures on texts that students are studying.  We firmly believe that the study of English extends well beyond the classroom and can enrich our lives well beyond our secondary education.