English at KS3
English is the study of language, communication and literature. The assessed skills are reading, writing and speaking and listening.
This core subject involves the study of written, spoken, moving image and electronic text. All our Key Stage 3 units are now based around themes so that, in each half-term, all students read a wide range of texts and undertake a variety of written tasks. Year 7 start the year with Animals, Year 8 with Famous Lives and Year 9 with Conflict and Relationships (providing a bridge to GCSE work next year).
Independent reading is a significant factor in making good progress and to encourage an enthusiasm for reading, each year group will read a different novel in class each term. Year 7 start with David Almond’s ‘Skellig’, year 8 with ‘Buddy’ by Nigel Hinton and Year 9, either Malorie Blackman’s ‘Noughts and Crosses’ or Robert Swindells’ ‘Daz for Zoe’.
All class texts are carefully chosen for accessibility and appeal to a wide range of readers.
Extra-curricular English
Every Thursday after school KS3 Booster classes will be held in the department; these will be predominantly aimed at year 9s, although students from other year groups will be invited to attend.
Don’t forget to check Independent Learning every week.
English at KS4 GCSE
Exam board: AQA
Course content:
Unit 1: Exam - Understanding and producing non-fiction texts (40%)
Unit 2: Classroom assessment - Speaking and Listening (20%)
Unit 3: Controlled assessment - Understanding and producing creative texts/Understanding spoken texts (40%)
Examinations:
Unit 1: Understanding and producing non-fiction texts (2 hours)
Date: (i) January 10th (ii) May 29th (summer retakes)
English Literature:
Exam board: AQA
Course content:
Unit 1: Exam - Exploring Modern Texts (40%)
Unit 2: Exam - Poetry Across Time (35%)
Unit 3: Controlled assessment - The significance of Shakespeare and the English Literary Heritage (25%)
Examinations:
Unit 1: Exploring Modern texts (1 hour and 30 minutes)
Students will answer one question (from a choice of two) on the short stories they have studied from the AQA Anthology, ‘Sunlight on the Grass’.
Students will also answer one question on ‘Of Mice And Men’. This question will be in two parts: Part a will ask students a question on a passage from the text and Part b will ask students to link this passage to the whole text.
Date: (i) January 13th (ii) 22nd May (summer retakes)
Extra-curricular English
Every Monday after school, a Booster Club runs in the main hall with a variety of activities delivered by a range of teachers.
Alternating every week with Maths, English revision school takes place on Saturday morning in the school hall. Whilst any year 11 is welcome, on occasion intervention will be targeted.
And don’t forget to check Independent Learning every week. Teachers are available in the department most mornings and evenings.