English

Key Stage 3

We are very proud of our Key Stage 3 curriculum and continuously seek to update it in order to provide our students with worthy and valuable learning opportunities.  We read and study a range of texts across Key Stage 3, as well as experimenting with different writing forms.  All years also participate in public speaking, crafting a speech on a topic of their choice. We cover a range of poetry, prose, drama, and non-fiction to ensure that students are well prepared for the demands of GCSE by the end of Year 9.

Currently, some of the texts we study include:

Tyger, SF Said

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe

The Crossing, Manjeet Mann

The Tempest, William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

Assessment

Each half term, students complete an assessment to showcase their understanding of the unit that will test their reading, writing, or speaking and listening skills.

Key Stage 4

Students follow the AQA specification for GCSE English Language and English Literature.

All students are taught Language alongside Literature and learn to explore writers’ meanings and intentions, analyse the effects of specific devices, explore possible layers of meaning and consider alternative interpretations, amongst other skills.

Year 10

In the first year of the course, we study:

Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
Poetry Anthology – Conflict poetry
English Language Paper 1 – Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing.

Year 11

In the second year, we study:

An Inspector Calls, J. B. Priestley
Unseen Poetry
English Language Paper 2 – Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives.
Revision of all three English Literature texts and English Language Paper 1.

Assessment

Students will regularly complete timed written responses for both the Literature and Language elements of the course. 

English Literature essays are completed on a half termly basis.

“Walking talking” mocks are offered for the English Language elements of the course – a step-by-step walk through and practice of the exam paper.

Key Stage 5

We study the OCR English Literature course: a linear course with a terminal examination at the end of two years. Students study a variety of different texts: plays, poetry and novels.  They build on their GCSE skills by showcasing their ability to formulate essays, compare texts, and analyse the language, form and structure of a text.  Students also learn to incorporate a text’s contexts and critical reception into their argument. There is a 20% coursework element to the course.

Course Syllabus:

Dracula, Bram Stoker
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter
‘Maud’, A Monodrama, by Alfred Lord Tennyson
A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
The Tempest, William Shakespeare
Wilfred Owen’s War Poems
Translations, Brian Friel
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

Assessment

Students regularly plan and write essays, for example writing an assessment each half term.  Students are also encouraged to plan out their independent work, reviewing classwork, and engaging with articles such as those in E-magazine and English Review – all these are available online in the library.

Extra-curricular enrichment

Year 7 – Past theatre trips have been to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The School of Rock, Aladdin and Matilda
Year 8 – Gothic Tales, A Christmas Carol (Visiting Theatre Companies)
Year 9 – Romeo and Juliet (Visiting Theatre companies)
Year 10/11 – The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Visiting Theatre Company)
Year 12/13 – We regularly arrange trips to the theatre and to relevant seminars. In previous years we have taken the whole of Year 12 and Year 13 to see The Tempest, Macbeth and Frankenstein.

Extra-curricular clubs in school:

Currently, we have an incredible creative writing club lead by two of our Year 12 mentors and overseen by a member of staff.  We also have a debating club, run by a member of the department, which is participating in local competitions.

Stretch & Challenge

We stretch and challenge our students in a number of ways. In-built to every lesson are a variety tasks and teaching strategies to provide the class with a variety of opportunities to challenge their thinking. The department encourages stepped questioning, differentiated tasks, extension tasks, and recommended reading challenges.

An example of enriching the English curriculum is the magazine View from the Mont, which is written by students from Years 7 – 13. It features original poems and writing by the students as well as book reviews from the Beaumont Book Club. The latest edition can be downloaded here.

We currently have Year 12 English mentors offering support to Year 11 students seeking out the highest grades at GCSE.

Where can English take you?

The sky is the limit! Popular employment destinations include: Journalism, Theatre, Editing, Proofreading, Publishing, Law, Management … teaching, and many others.

Past alumni have gone on to study English Literature, Linguistics, or English Literature dual honours with other subjects such as History, Media, Drama, Languages, American Studies.

How parents can support their child’s learning?

Read with them and encourage wider learning; have conversations; be curious; discuss current affairs, history, and culture; be an attentive audience during public speaking practice; ask your child to read their work aloud to help with the editing and polishing process; test their knowledge during revision by reading out key quotes with them.

Useful links

KS3/GCSE BITESIZE
www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zckw2hv

Year 12/13
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-a-level-gce-english-literature-h072-h472-from-2015/
https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/magazines
https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine/
https://www.rsc.org.uk/
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

To see the frequently asked questions, please click here