English

Our aim at KS4 is to inspire all learners to be enthusiastic and proactive in their learning as they prepare to undertake their GCSE examinations in English Language and Literature. We aspire to support pupils to become independent, resilient, responsible, and successful future global citizens, equipped for the rigours of further academic study and the world of work. We hope to inspire and motivate our students to become lifelong learners who are successful not only academically but also in their positive contributions to wider society. We strive to ensure all pupils are adequately equipped with the broad range of skills needed to be successful in a transitional, competitive and challenging world.

To achieve our vision, we have created a KS4 curriculum which builds on the skills delivered at KS3 and follows the Edexcel GCSE specification for language and literature. We continue to immerse our learners in a vast range of reading stimuli, both fiction and non-fiction and aim to further develop their cultural capital. Pupils study texts from a range of highly esteemed authors such as Shakespeare, Orwell and Dickens. We encourage pupils to read these texts critically, with imagination, and to make connections to the world around them. The texts studied at KS4 frequently address important social and historical issues that are still pertinent and prevalent today. We strive to tackle these issues in an open and inclusive way, where students feel safe and secure in developing and expressing their beliefs.

In writing, we strive to augment the skills implemented at KS3 to generate effective and confident writers who can express themselves accurately, in detail and with precision. We aim to foster imaginative and analytical writers who utilise sophisticated vocabulary, form grammatically correct and compelling sentences and employ structural devices creatively to express ideas in a convincing manner for a variety of forms and purposes.Students have the opportunity to engage in discussions, debates, and formal presentations as they journey towards the completion of their spoken language endorsement. This presents opportunities for students to immerse and refine their verbal communication skills and to develop their ability to articulate their perspectives and ideas confidently, coherently and in a structured manner. These skills will prove invaluable as pupils’ progress to further academic study or their desired careers.

Sequencing and Practice

• We study the 19th century novel A Christmas Carol in Module 1
• Students read, understand and respond to the text and practice maintaining a critical and informed response to the text
• They are taught to use textual references including quotations to support and illustrate their interpretations 
• Students must analyse language, form and structure employed by Dickens to to create meanings and effects and must use relevant subject terminology in their responses
• Students use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures  clearly and coherently to achieve their purpose with accurate use of punctuation and spelling (spag)

A Christmas Carol is interleaved with Imaginative Writing

• Students develop imaginative writing skills to engage the reader through their creation of settings, characterizations
• Use spelling, punctuation and grammar accurately
• Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting their tone and style for different forms, purposes and audiences
• Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to structure cohesive and coherent texts
• Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect employing accurate spelling and punctuation

By progressively studying the key literature texts interleaved with English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 students will augment the following skills throughout the course of the year:

• Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas
• Select and synthesise evidence from different texts
• Explain, comment and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their interpretations
• Compare writer’s ideas and perspectives and the way they are depicted across two or more texts
• Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references 
• Demonstrate presentation skills in a formal setting/context
• Listen and respond appropriately to spoken language, including to questions and feedback on presentations
• Use spoken Standard English effectively in speeches and presentations
• Study a range of 20th and 21st century non-fiction texts (including literary non-
• Develop skills to analyse, evaluate and compare non-fiction extracts
• Study selection from a range of prose fiction
• Develop skills to analyse and evaluate 19th century fiction extracts 
• Develop imaginative writing skills to engage the reader 
• Develop transactional writing skills for a variety of forms, purposes and audiences
• Use SPAG  accurately
• Develop skills to analyse how the language, form, structure and context of texts can create meanings and effects
• Develop skills to maintain a critical style and informed interpretation in their study of A Christmas Carol , the relationship poems outlined above, Animal Farm and Romeo and Juliet
• Develop comparison skills
• Understand a word, phrase, sentence or whole text in context; explore aspects of plot, characterisation, events and settings; distinguish between what is stated explicitly and what is implied; explain motivation, sequence of events, and the relationship between actions or events
• Identify the theme and distinguish between themes; support a point of view by referring to evidence in the text; recognise the possibility of and evaluate different responses to a text, use understanding of writer’s social, historical and cultural contexts to inform evaluation; make an informed personal response that derives from analysis and evaluation of the text
• Analyse and evaluate how language (including figurative language), structure, form and presentation contribute to quality and impact; use linguistic and literary terminology for such evaluation (such as, but not restricted to, phrase, metaphor, meter, irony and persona, synecdoche, pathetic fallacy)
• Write effectively about literature for a range of purposes such as: to describe, explain, summarise, argue, analyse and evaluate; discuss and maintain a point of view; select and emphasise key points; use relevant quotation and detailed textual references
• Compare and contrast texts studied, refer where relevant to theme, characterisation, context (where known), style and literary quality; compare two texts critically with respect to the above

Students will be supported with a number of different types of assessment materials to ensure they are successful in their examination by the end of Year 11. 

Students will complete a full mock paper in year  10. We use the following Assessment Objectives:

The aims of studies in language and literature are to enable students to: engage with a range of texts, in a variety of media and forms, from different periods, styles, and cultures; develop skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, presenting and performing; develop skills in interpretation, analysis and evaluation; develop sensitivity to the formal and aesthetic qualities of texts and an appreciation of how they contribute to diverse responses and open up multiple meanings; develop an understanding of relationships between texts and a variety of perspectives, cultural contexts, and local and global issues and an appreciation of how they contribute to diverse responses and open up multiple meanings; develop an understanding of the relationships between studies in language and literature and other disciplines; communicate and collaborate in a confident and creative way; foster a lifelong interest in and enjoyment of language and literature.

Students will complete one module of exploring the 30 language text types that may feature on Paper 1. This extends their learning from the GCSE Language papers, and provides a basis for the textual analysis demands that will carry them through the course. 

Students will complete two modules of studying novel & literary critical theories to provide them with the skills and knowledge that will underpin their coursework, undertaken over the remaining three modules, and their eventual analysis of literature texts in Year 13. 

By the end of Year 12, students will have covered all of Paper 1 (Language) and completed their coursework, as well as being equipped with the skills and knowledge to approach the Literature texts in Year 13.

Students will know, understand and interpret:

• a range of texts, works and/or performances, and their meanings and implications
• contexts in which texts are written and/or received
• elements of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual and/or performance craft
• features of particular text types and literary forms.

Students will analyse and evaluate:

• ways in which the use of language creates meaning
• uses and effects of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual or theatrical techniques
• relationships among different texts
• ways in which texts may offer perspectives on human concerns.

Students will communicate:

• ideas in clear, logical and persuasive ways
• in a range of styles, registers and for a variety of purposes and situations

Paper 1 (Language)

• Externally assessed.
• The paper consists of two non-literary passages, from two different text types, each accompanied by a question. Students write an analysis of each of the passages.
• 1 hour 45 minutes.
• 35% of the total grade.

Paper 2 (Literature)

• Externally assessed.
• The paper consists of four general questions. In response to one question students write a comparative essay based on two works studied in the course.
• 2 hours 15 minutes.
• 25% of the total grade.

Higher Level Essay

• Externally assessed.
• Students submit an essay on one non-literary text or a collection of non-literary texts by one same author, or a literary text or work studied during the course. The essay must be 1,200-1,500 words in length.
• 20% of the total grade.

Individual Oral

• Internally assessed.
• Supported by an extract from both one non-literary text and one from a literary work, students will offer a prepared response of 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of questions by the teacher, to the following prompt: Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of two of the works that you have studied.
• 20% of the total grade.