English

A mastery of English is the key to opening the doors of success

Creating opportunities for students to develop a love of the English language lies at the heart of the English department. With a team of subject specialists, we work tirelessly to provide students with a range of exciting and challenging classroom activities and precisely selected texts linked to the expansion and consolidation of their reading, writing and speaking and listening skills and ultimately, the creation of critical and creative thinkers who collaborate and communicate effectively.

We encourage students to reflect on the texts we read, make their own judgements and draw their own conclusions.
We are passionate about storytelling in all its forms and want our students to develop and share a similar passion and enthusiasm.

Our aim is to empower students to read critically, write fluently, analytically and creatively and speak effectively so they will have the necessary skills and abilities to succeed in an increasingly complex, ever-changing and competitive world.

English Video

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Year 7

The Year 7 curriculum has been designed to encourage all learners to foster a love of English; students are immersed in a range of both fiction and non-fiction texts from the outset. Consolidation of skills and knowledge from the primary curriculum is embedded throughout the year. Homework is a tool used to build, develop and consolidate students’ English skills as well as teaching them about organisation, responsibility and independent learning. It is set once weekly. Individual homework will be set by the class teacher and linked to the topic being covered.

Spelling will form one aspect of the weekly homework. Homework is recorded in students’ planners; they are afforded time to record this during lessons. It can also be viewed on the School Synergy app and website.

Students in Year 7 are enrolled in the Accelerated Reader programme. This is designed to improve reading speed and fluency. Students will be expected to read their Accelerated Reading book, for fifteen minutes daily, as part of their weekly homework. Students must bring their Accelerated Reader book to school with them each day.

Year 8

The Year 8 curriculum is designed to further strengthen the skills gained during Year 7 English lessons whilst immersing students into a broader range of both fiction and non-fiction texts. Homework is a tool used to build, develop and consolidate students’ English skills as well as teaching them about organisation, responsibility and independent learning. It is set once weekly.

Individual homework will be set by the class teacher and linked to the topic being covered. Spelling will form one aspect of the weekly homework. Homework is recorded in students’ planners; they are afforded time to record this during lessons. It can also be viewed on the Synergy App and website.

Students in Year 8 carry on with their Accelerated Reader programme from Year 7. The programme is used to continue to improve reading speed and fluency. Students will be expected to read their Accelerated Reading book, for fifteen minutes daily, as part of their weekly homework. Students must bring their Accelerated Reader book to school with them every day.

Year 9

The Year 9 curriculum has been designed as a transition year between lower school and the study of more challenging GCSE texts in upper school. Students consolidate all of the English skills they have acquired since starting their educational journey, in preparation for Years 10 and 11. The curriculum is devised to further strengthen these skills whilst introducing students to a broad range of fiction and non-fiction texts: many with similar features,

structures and forms to those they will study at GCSE.

Homework is recorded in students’ homework diaries; they are afforded time to record this during lessons. It can also be viewed on the Synergy mobile app and website.

Year 10

Year 10 is probably the most challenging year for English students. The curriculum is aimed at introducing students explicitly to the skills and knowledge required in both English Language and English Literature. The primary focus of the year is to complete the detailed study of all key texts for the GCSE English Literature course. The assessment outcomes

for Language have been embedded into Literature schemes of work in order to ensure continuous progress in the further development, consolidation and application of these skills.

Homework is a tool used to build, develop and consolidate students’ English skills as well as teaching them about organisation, responsibility and independent learning. It is set once weekly. Individual homework will be set by the class teacher and linked to the topic being covered. It is common, at this level, to be set research tasks in order to prepare students for the contextual elements of the course. Homework is recorded in students’ homework diaries; they are afforded time to record this during lessons. It can also be viewed on the Synergy mobile app and website.

Year 11

Although we spend the majority of this year revising and applying key skills and knowledge, the curriculum remains broad, engaging and valuable. In addition to revising the key texts studied in Year 10 (Macbeth, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Blood Brothers, Love and Relationships poetry), we continue to introduce students to a plethora of exciting extracts from a wide range of previously unseen (and some seen) texts that date from the nineteenth century to the present day, and in a variety of forms.

Homework is a tool used to build, develop and consolidate students’ English skills as well as teaching them about organisation, responsibility and independent learning. It is set once weekly. Individual homework will be set by the class teacher and linked to the topic being covered. It is common for homework pieces at this level to involve the revision of key quotations from the texts studied as well as the practice of exam-style questions. Practice is essential and students who perform best on examination days are those who have taken the opportunity to complete practice papers at home as part of their homework. Homework is recorded in students’ homework diaries; they are afforded time to record this during lessons. It can also be viewed on the Synergy mobile app and website.

While in Years 7, 8 and 9 students should try and read a wide variety of books. The more students read then the better and more disciplined they become at writing as they witness a range of writing styles, techniques and deliberate use of structure and punctuation.

Newspapers and magazines are a good source of reading and these types of text will help prepare students for their English Language examinations in Years 10 and 11.

While in Years 10 and 11 students should try and read a wide variety of books and poetry. The more students read then the better and more disciplined they become at writing as they witness a range of writing styles, techniques and deliberate use of structure and punctuation.

Further information below: