English Key Information
‘Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass’
‘Books are uniquely portable magic’
‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies’
English department aims and ethos:
The English department enhance students’ lives in the study of English Language and literature by fulfilling the St Joseph’s Mission statement; Living, loving, learning through Christ and promoting the Jesuit Pupil Profile virtues. We strive to make learning fun, inspire a love of reading and a thirst for knowledge in our students, developing them as independent and enquiring learners. In order to achieve our aim, we endeavour to:
• Ensure all students make outstanding progress.
• Ensure all English lessons include relevant challenge, pupil engagement and a focus on celebrating success.
• Provide all students with the opportunity to study a wide range of engaging fiction and non-fiction texts to help develop insightful and perceptive readers.
• Promote independent reading time and develop a love of reading with all students to encourage them to read for pleasure and become lifelong ‘readers’.
• Provide students opportunities to participate in a wide range of learning experiences, developing them as effective communicators and active learners.
• Help all students develop into creative, analytical and independent thinkers.
• Encourage all pupils to develop skills to enable them to write, read and speak Standard English fluently and accurately.
• Enable all students to develop effective writing skills so that pupils can express themselves precisely and fluently in a range of forms, for different purposes and audiences, communicating meaning and developing ideas effectively and controlling grammar and structure appropriately.
• Provide a supportive, engaging and challenging learning environment to help students achieve their very best.
• Provide students with opportunities to develop Oracy skills and develop their confidence when taking part in public speaking.
• Prepare students for the world of Higher Education and work by guiding them to successful assessment at GCSE and raising their aspirations.
Meet the English department:
Mrs Steele – Co-Head of English
Mrs Kim – Co-Head of English
Mrs Fillingham – Assistant Head and English Teacher
Mrs G Ward – English Teacher
Miss C Fisher – English Teacher
Mrs A Mitchell – English TA and Reading Intervention Lead
KS4 Curriculum
At KS4, all students study the AQA English Language and English Literature GCSE courses.
English Literature:
In AQA GCSE English Literature, students will sit two examinations.
English Literature Paper 1:
Shakespeare and 19th -century novel
• ‘Romeo and Juliet’
• ‘A Christmas Carol’ or ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ (text choice at the teacher’s discretion)
• Total marks for this paper is 64
English Literature Paper 2:
Modern texts and poetry
• Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
• AQA Power and Conflict anthology.
• Total marks for this paper is 96
English Language:
In AQA English Language, students will sit two examinations.
English Language Paper 1:
Explorations in creative reading and writing.
• In section A of this paper, students will use their analytical skills to analyse a writer’s use of language and the impacts/effects from an unseen fictional extract.
• In section B of this paper, students will demonstrate their understanding of the effective use of language to produce a piece of fiction of their own.
• Total marks of this paper is 80.
English Language Paper 2:
Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives.
• In section A of this paper, students will use their analytical skills to analyse two non-fiction texts from different time periods. Students will be required to synthesise, analyse and compare writers’ methods across both non-fiction extracts.
• In section B of this paper, students will demonstrate their understanding of non-fiction features of writing to produce their own piece of non-fiction writing to express a viewpoint/perspective.
• Total marks of this paper is 80.
KS3 curriculum:
Our KS3 is developed in order for students to broaden their cultural capital and understanding of the world around them through our carefully planned curriculum and carefully chosen texts. The KS3 curriculum follows a thematic thread across Year 7, 8 and 9 with interlinking themes and concepts.
• In Year 7, the curriculum is planned around the theme of ‘identity’.
• In Year 8, the curriculum is planned around the theme of ‘power’ and exploring those in society who are ‘powerful and powerless’.
• In Year 9, the curriculum is planned around the theme of ‘injustice’.
Texts studied in Year 7:
• Poetry from other cultures.
• ‘The Paradise Carpet’ by Jamila Gavin
• ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare
Texts studied in Year 8
:
• ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell or ‘The Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins
• Famous speeches by Martin Luther King Jr, Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg.
• ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare.
Texts studied in Year 9:
• Extracts from ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley.
• ‘The Long Way Down’ by Jason Reynolds.
• Non-fiction articles surrounding gun violence, knife crime and gang culture in the UK and USA.
• ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B. Priestley
Skills the students will develop:
• Deduction and inference skills.
• Analytical skills.
• Oracy skills
• Writing skills
• Key component knowledge in all year groups.
• Understanding and application of core vocabulary.
Future careers and vocations:
• Lots of students move on to study A Level English Language and/or English Literature, some students then procced to degree courses.
• In terms of careers, English opens many doors for students and GCSE English Language and Literature are both highly valued in many fields, including:
Teaching, journalism, law, politics, publishing and media, marketing and HR.
Assessment and progress in English:
Rewards in English:
Interventions in English:
Contacts:
Enrichment
All enrichment booklets for KS3 and KS4 can be found on the English SharePoint – English Department (sharepoint.com)
Competitions
Extra-Curricular Clubs
Cultural enrichment experiences
Reading
Reading in form time:
Reading for pleasure in lessons:
Reading interventions
Testimonials from students who have received reading interventions:
“Phonics has helped me read more fluently; it has helped me to pronounce words better”
(Year 9 student)
“It was good. It helped remind me about the phonic sounds from primary school. I would tell friends to do it if they have chance.”
(Year 9 student)
“The phonics has helped me a lot, it has helped me understand word sounds and how to use them to form words. I would tell friends to give it a go if they can.”
(Year 10 student)