The 7-year journey through the English curriculum is designed to support the school intent of developing students to learn, love and live to achieve life in all its fullness. We seek to enable students to develop as fluent, confident and effective communicators, through reading, writing and speaking. They should go out into the world equipped to tackle the academic rigour of higher education, communicate with empathy, skill and clarity in the workplace and feel they can make a difference through using their voice. The curriculum is designed to give pupils a wide exposure to a range of challenging texts for study in class and a diverse set of relevant topics around which to discuss, evaluate and create. We want our students to love language, engage with texts in new ways, make links to the real world and be empowered as learners through their ability to read and write, which underpins the whole curriculum.
In Year 7, students will consolidate and develop the skills they have been taught in primary schools as they are introduced to new texts and areas of study. Their introductory unit, All About Me, focuses on autobiography and creative non-fiction. Students study a range of texts from diverse writers such as Roald Dahl, Michelle Obama, Enio Aloku and Malala Yousefzai
In each year of our three year Key Stage 3, students study at least one class novel together; they range more widely across genres and time periods, building their ability to infer information and analyse authors’ methods, then applying similar strategies to their own writing. Students also study at least one Shakespeare play, as well as a range of poetry. Presentations, discussions and class debates are used to further students’ ability to express their ideas and reason their opinions. In KS3, students also have some lessons in the school library to embed independent reading; they will be expected to continue good practice from primary school by reading weekly.
AQA GCSE English Language 8700
AQA GCSE English Literature 8702
For English Language, students study both fiction and non-fiction texts. They cover a wide range of texts and extracts, ranging from the 19th century to modern day writers. This equips them to evaluate both classics and contemporary writers, encouraging them to explore reading beyond their usual choices. In class, students explore and analyse writers’ techniques, write creative and non-fiction texts themselves, prepare presentations and participate in discussions. We employ ICT and e-learning regularly in English, especially for homework and utilise a variety of online programmes to support learning and revision.
For English Literature, students study the Power and Conflict poetry anthology Macbeth, by Shakespeare and a modern drama, An Inspector Calls, by J. B. Priestly. They will also study the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
The two elements of Language and Literature will be taught together in alternating units of work, and students will be assessed each half term to measure progress in both skills and content.
AQA GCSE English Language 8700
AQA GCSE English Literature 8702
AQA GCE English Literature B 7717
At Key Stage 5 students study;
1. Literary Genres – Aspects of Comedy (closed book exam)
Students study a range of texts through the lens of comedy: Twelfth Night, by Shakespeare, Small Island by Andrea Levy and The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde.
Students study through the lens of tragedy: Othello, by Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and slected poems by John Keats.
Students write an internal progression exam at the end of Year 12, with the option to complete the AS level course if they are not continuing with the subject.
2. Texts and Genres – Elements of Crime Writing (open book exam)
At A Level, students go on to study texts through the lens of Crime Fiction: Atonement by Ian McEwan, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
3. NEA [non-exam component] – Theory Study and Independent Research Writing
Students prepare, plan and write 2 independent research essays, each of 1200-1500 words, which are handed in by half term in February of Year 13.
Students have a free choice of prose and poetry for the Non-Exam Assessed component [NEA] of the A Level award. They are required to write about an independently chosen prose and poetry text, using a theoretical perspective, such as Feminism, Marxism or Post-colonialism. The theory is taught as part of both years of the two year A-Level course and prepares students for further literature study at University as well as in critical and analytical thinking and concise writing skills.
AQA GCE English Literature B 7717
The English department encourages all students to develop a love of reading and literature. We offer a range of theatre trips and guest speakers linked to the units being studied across all key stages. Our annual high profile two-week Lit Fest is a further opportunity for students in all year groups to experience an even wider range of literature and both hear from and meet the visiting writers who attend as part of our celebration of literature.
Students are encouraged to enter creative writing competitions, and many have been published by the Young Writers and we have recently launched a student newspaper. Each year we appoint a Poet Laureate to write and read poetry at our key school events.
In Key Stage 4, students undertake the Jack Petchey ‘Speakout’ challenge, during which they take part in workshops led by industry trainers to speak confidently on a subject they are passionate about.
In Key Stage 5, students have the opportunity to attend various author events in Hillingdon and at Brunel University, as they arise, to get a sense of how writers go about their work and the processes involved.