English

CURRICULUM INTENT

KEY STAGE 3

Throughout each year of KS3, students will engage in a wide range of reading, writing and spoken language activities which are interleaved throughout the curriculum as we help students build a wealth of knowledge, an understanding of a wide range of literature texts, subject terminology, and Tier 2 vocabulary.

In Year 7, students ESTABLISH ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE by encountering a range of challenging reading and writing styles included in units of work such as: Nineteenth Century Writing, Modern Texts, Travel Writing and Poetry. They will encounter challenging moral and ethical issues when studying texts from the past and present. They will read ‘The Speckled Band’, ‘The Adventure of the Red-Headed League’, ‘The Odyssey’, the novel ‘Private Peaceful’ and study the Shakespeare play: ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Students will also build a range of writing skills including creative and viewpoint writing. As with all aspects of English, they will also have an opportunity to build their spoken language skills. Weekly homework tasks will involve a broad range of reading and writing activities. Finally, students will have the opportunity to develop these skills beyond the curriculum through our academic Massolit programme and our Year 7 Societies: Year 7 Book Society, Shakespeare Society, and Creative Writing Club. In addition, we also hope students will improve their vocabulary skills with the online programme Vocabulous and take the opportunity to enter our Ovid For All Competition.

In Year 8, students BUILD ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE and are introduced to the dystopian fiction genre through the novel ‘Animal Farm’ and other key texts. There are plentiful opportunities to build skills in creative writing, viewpoint writing and Spoken Language. As part of understanding the power of rhetoric, we will explore its origins through the work of Aristotle and read ‘I am Malala’. They gain an appreciation of key texts by studying ‘Literature Over Time’ (which includes reading ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’). We will also look at some fantastic poetry and study Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. Weekly homework tasks will involve a broad range of reading and writing activities. Finally, students will have the opportunity to develop these skills beyond the curriculum through our academic Massolit programme and our Year 8 Societies: The Greek Society (exploring Classical Mythology), Shakespeare Society and Creative Writing Club.

In Year 9, students CONSOLIDATE ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS and read a variety of challenging texts beginning with Miller’s play, ‘A View from the Bridge’. Pupils learn about the importance of social and historical influences on writers by reading the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’. We will also study a whole Shakespeare play: ‘Othello’. Students will also build creative writing skills by exploring the Gothic Genre (whilst reading ‘The Woman in Black’) and viewpoint skills through an analysis of ‘The Truman Show’. Additionally, there will be a range of opportunities for Spoken Language and a study of poetry. We will also explore Greek Tragedy through ‘Antigone’. Weekly homework tasks will involve a broad range of reading and writing activities. Finally, students will have the opportunity to develop these skills beyond the curriculum through our academic Massolit programme and our Year 9 Societies: The Gothic Society (exploring all things Gothic), Shakespeare Society and The Holmfirth Writes…Creative Writing Club.

KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM

KEY STAGE 4

By the end of Y11, students will have completed two GCSEs in English: AQA English Language and AQA English Literature.

Year 10 students will study a range of set texts for GCSE Literature, including a 19th century novel (‘A Christmas Carol’), a modern play (‘An Inspector Calls’), a Shakespeare play (‘Macbeth’) and an anthology of 15 poems (‘Power and Conflict’).

In preparation for GCSE Language, pupils will explore a range of texts from different eras, both fiction and non-fiction.

The emphasis throughout will be on close reading of texts to analyse, evaluate and compare writers’ methods and points of view. They will often need to consider the contexts in which texts were written to inform their responses.

Building a broad and comprehensive range of Tier 2 vocabulary and a secure knowledge of Subject Specific terminology is at the core of all learning.

Students will also build their Spoken Language skills, culminating in a presentation.

Pupils will also develop their written work. They will practise creative writing, including narrative and description, as well as writing to express a point of view or argument, using a range of language and structural devices to produce more convincing texts.

In Year 11, pupils will have an opportunity to consolidate the learning outlined above. Set texts will be studied in increasing depth to ensure that pupils are able to explore them fully in a closed-book literature exam. More emphasis will be put on exam skills, to ensure that pupils are able to effectively demonstrate their knowledge and secure grades for both GCSEs that are a true reflection of their potential.

Finally, in both Year 10 and Year 11 students will complete our reading and writing homework activities; these are designed to build independent reading and writing skills. They will have the opportunity to develop skills beyond the curriculum through our Aspire Higher Lecture programme, Massolit and our Year 10 and 11 Societies: The Y10 ‘Masters’ Society’, The Y11 ‘Upper Masters’ Society, Shakespeare Society and The Holmfirth Writes…Creative Writing Club.

KEY STAGE 4 CURRICULUM