Curricula – English

Vision

The English faculty is a beacon of excellence. A faculty that fosters a passion and love of English in our students, encourages them to be literary explorers and opens up worlds and cultures that are different to their own.  Our students develop a love of language, become articulate communicators, critical readers and are exposed to cultural capital that allows them to take part in conversations, discussions and debates that they may otherwise be excluded from.  Fundamentally, we create opportunities through empowering our students by breaking down walls, ceilings and barriers.

Year 7 Curriculum Intent

Students will begin their journey through the story of English, beginning with the oral tradition and stories from the Iliad that are still told today. They will learn to critique character and problematic ideas about heroism and masculinity. By the end of Year 7 students will be able to comment on the theme of power, including who has it and what they do with it; who doesn’t have it and how they can be exploited including the lack of power afforded to women in the early literature that they are studying. Students will begin to develop an academic style that allows them to express their opinions and understanding of the text in a clear and rational manner. Students will able to draw upon, and employ a range of methods to create narrative and exploring rhetoric as being the foundation of effective transactional writing.

Year 7 Topics

Presentation of Heroes in Greek Myths and Legends

• The Iliad – Reading
• The Odyssey – Writing

Representation of Women in Literature

• Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

The Power of Language

• An Introduction to the Art of Rhetoric
• Romantic Poetry

Year 8 Curriculum Intent

By the end of year 8 students will be able to explain how a changing landscape and conflict affected the individual. They will study how the imagined fears of the gothic tradition transform into the real horrors of early 19^th century war poetry and plays. Students will study dystopian literature and the parallels between this and earlier genres of literature they have studied.  They will consider how the powerless and voiceless can finally be heard. They will demonstrate their understanding of the how through developed explanations of language and structure. Students will be able to draw on a broader range of methods to create intended effects in their writing. Students will use their understanding of powerful writing to as a model for their own creative pieces.

Year 8 Topics

The Gothic

• Gothic Literature
• The Body Snatcher
• Crime and Punishment
• Non-fiction Writing

War and Conflict

• Comparing the poetry of Wilfred Owen

Dystopian World

• Dystopian Reading: Animal Farm
• Dystopian Writing

Year 9 Curriculum Intent

By the end of year 9, students will be able to explain the ‘story of English’ and demonstrate their understanding of the influences on modern literature. They will be able to critique texts, and their representations of character and themes and explore the reasons why certain texts can be perceived as problematic in a more multicultural and politically aware society. They will study the literary voices that have previously been repressed, under represented and marginalised in society. Through their exploration of different perspectives and themes throughout KS3, students will have a greater appreciation of how these universal themes in literature, echo, reinforce and comment upon each other. They will demonstrate their knowledge of the ‘what’ the how’ and the ‘why’. Students will draw upon a range of methods to craft their writing, meet the needs of their audiences and understand the power and validity of their own voices.

Year 9 Topics

Representation of the ‘Other’

• Shakespeare: The Tempest

Identity in a Post-Colonial World

• Fictional Writing: Stories of the oppressed
• Poetry from different cultures

Reclaiming Voices

• Post-Colonial Novel
• Writing to Change the World: Delivering a Speech

Year 10 and 11 Curriculum Intent

Throughout KS4, students will continue their literary exploration of the human condition, studying texts that have been shaped and influenced by societal changes. They will be able to draw upon their knowledge of universal themes such as power and conflict to interpret seminal texts that have posed questions throughout history about collective responsibility, morality and the human capacity for reform. Through examination of character and themes, students will develop an insight into how identity can be both formed and transformed and how at the centre of the human condition is the continuous struggle between binary oppositions such as vice and virtue.  Students will be able to express their opinions and pursue a line of inquiry in an academic and scholarly manner using a judicious selection of evidence to support their arguments. They will analyse, explore and evaluate existing literary criticism and use this as a spring board to formulate their own critical opinions.
Students will skilfully weave narratives and transactional writing, drawing upon an ever-increasing bank of literary techniques with subtly and sophistication. Students’ writing will be thought provoking, evocative and moving.

Year 10 Language Topics

• The Writer’s Craft
• Writer’s Viewpoints and Perspectives
• Comparing Texts

Year 10 Literature Topics

• An Inspector Calls – JB Priestley
• Macbeth – William Shakespeare
• Power and Conflict – Various Poets

Year 11 Topics

• Macbeth – William Shakespeare
• Language Paper 1 Section A+B
• Language Paper 2 Section A+B
• Final Revision Practise and Preparation