Aims for Key Stage 3

Recall a broad and balanced working knowledge of the English Literary Canon;

Identify, comment on, and critique the impact of language and language technique;

Identify and respond to the intentions of a speaker or writer;

Craft authentic texts through their use of effective structure, impactful vocabulary and literary devices.

In each year at Key Stage 3, pupils study a modern novel, poetry from different historical contexts, Shakespeare and Victorian literature, as well as significant works of non-fiction, including meaningful speeches and biographical texts from a wide range of historical periods.

Year 7

• English Language Project: ‘The World Around Us’
• Narrative Writing
• Heroes and Villains in Literature
• Diversity Literature
• Discovering Shakespeare
• Writing to Inform and Persuade

Year 8

• English Language Project: ‘How We Treat Others’
• Representation of War
• Novel Study: Animal Farm
• Literature and Gender
• Shakespeare Study: Romeo and Juliet

Year 9

• Modern Author Study: John Steinbeck
• Writing to Argue and Persuade
• Shakespeare Study: The Merchant of Venice
• William Blake and Romanticism
• English Language Project: ‘The Gothic Genre’

Pupils read and respond to texts through literary study and, in line with our programme of study, develop writing skills for four sessions a week and have one session of reading development. Pupils are given classroom time to read independently and collaboratively to building fluency and reading competency, and this is tracked and monitored by their classroom teacher.

Aims for Key Stage 4

Explain the place and value of writers and texts within the English Literary Canon;

Analyse and critique how successfully a writer manipulates language and form to achieve the intention;

Articulate well-considered and well-argued viewpoints about the texts that they read and their historical context, as well as a modern context;

Critically compare a range of literary texts;

Confidently and successfully manipulate language, structure and form to craft authentic texts across a wide range of fiction and non-fiction forms.

Pupils complete the Edexcel GCSE English Language 2.0 and AQA English Literature during Years 10 and 11.

In English Language, pupils complete two exams:

• Non-Fiction Texts: Pupils respond to non-fiction texts from the 19^th century, and use the non-fiction writing skills developed at KS3 to produce engaging discursive texts.
• Contemporary Texts: Pupils respond to two modern texts, one fiction and one non-fiction. Pupils also produce a piece of creative writing, underpinned by the skills developed at KS3.

In English Literature, there are also two exams:

• Shakespeare and the 19^th Century Novel: Pupils will read and respond to the Shakespeare play Macbeth and the Victorian novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Pupils are required to respond to an extract from both texts and produce an essay that explores characters, events and themes from the whole texts.
• Modern Texts and Poetry: Pupils will read and respond to the modern text, An Inspector Calls, and answer a closed-book question based on the events, characters and themes of this text. Pupils will also study an anthology of poetry; we study the ‘Power and Conflict’ selection of poems; pupils will be examined on their ability to analyse one printed poem from this anthology and their ability to make connections between this and a second poem. In the final part of this exam, pupils write an essay response to an unseen poem, and then produce a short comparison between this poem and a second unseen poem.

For more detailed information on our Programmes of Study, please click the links to the following documents:

Year 7 English Programme of Study 2023-24.pdf

Year 8 English Programme of Study 2023-24.pdf

Year 9 English Programme of Study 2023-24.pdf

Year 10 English Programme of Study 2023-24.pdf

Year 11 English Programme of Study 2023-24.pdf

English KS5 - Programme of Study 2021- 22 KS5.pdf

Music KS3 - KS3 Music.pdf

Music Y10 - Y10 Music Programme of Study.pdf

Music Y11 - Y11 Music Programme of Study.pdf