Subjects

Curriculum

English

The study of English is incredibly wide-ranging. In this subject, we get to read widely and experience some of the most exciting and thought-provoking texts ever written. We are encouraged to think creatively, critically and independently whilst also learning the conventions of academic writing so that we can articulate our ideas clearly and confidently. As we study the construction of texts and explore the impact of the writer’s choices, we develop the skills of analysis and evaluation and, more importantly, come to understand how powerful language really is. Naturally, as we develop our knowledge of the writer’s craft, we also add to our own skills as writers and readers. This enables us to write purposefully and imaginatively in creative and real-life situations, drawing on our understanding of the techniques used by professional writers to inform our own writing. While the study of English allows us to become confident readers and writers, it also has another power: it opens gateways to past, present and imagined worlds allowing us to explore some of life’s biggest questions about the human condition. Ultimately, the more we read, the more we develop our capacity to empathise with others, and the more we develop our understanding of what it means to be human.

Use the page navigation on the left to navigate between year groups.

Year 7

Autumn Term

Social and Political Protest

Reading: Animal Farm

Writing: Letter Writing

Key knowledge/concepts: persuasive linguistic features; the conventions of letter writing and protest literature; the text as an allegory.

Social class and inequality; the concept of protest; the Russian Revolution of 1917

Spring Term

Voyages

Reading: poetry and a range of extracts

Writing: descriptive diary entries

Key knowledge/concepts: descriptive linguistic features, diary writing, poetic techniques (analysing language and some structure), using extended metaphor. Gender/society in the Victorian era; the concept of voyages (literal and metaphorical)

Summer Term

Shakespeare

From Page to Stage

Reading: Romeo and Juliet

Writing: scripts

Key knowledge/ concepts: Text in performance; dramatic techniques and elements of staging

Shakespeare’s life and the Globe; Elizabethan society; the conventions of script writing

Scripted drama: DNA by Dennis Kelly and The Last Resort by Chris Owens

Year 8

Autumn Term

Gothic Literature

Reading: poetry and short stories

Writing: narrative

Key knowledge/ concepts: the conventions of gothic literature; conventions of narrative writing including structural features; dramatic monologue; unreliable narrators; introducing setting and character through lens of the gothic and the supernatural; comparative phrases and comparing poems

Spring Term

Conflict

Reading: Salt to the Sea

Writing: memoir

Key knowledge/ concepts: memoir writing; descriptive devices; WW2 historical context; the concept of conflict and civilisation versus savagery; man’s inherent evil and the ability to overcome

Summer Term

Shakespeare

Heroes and Villains

Reading: Othello

Writing:

Key knowledge/ concepts: introduction to tragic arc and the tragic hero/villain; the end of the Elizabethan era; duality; close textual analysis; the conventions of monologues

Year 9

Autumn Term

Voices

Reading: Of Mice and Men, non-fiction extracts and poetry

Writing: Express a point of view

Key knowledge/ concepts: the text as a construct- microcosm; developing conceptualised interpretations; 1930s America historical context; structuring an argument and rhetorical techniques.

Spring Term

Freedom

Reading: Educating Rita/ Our Day Out

Writing: Structured description

Key knowledge/ concepts: dramatic devices; motifs; analysis of language, structure and form; 1980s Britain and Thatcherism; social class and inequality; gender stereotypes; local identity Writing to describe driven by symbolism – language, form and structure

Summer Term

Shakespeare

Guilt and Ambition

Introduction to Macbeth

Key knowledge/ concepts: Plot and character; aspects of tragedy and the tragic hero; the Jacobean era historical context; elements of staging and dramatic techniques; thematic strands including the supernatural, fate versus free will and duality

Year 10

Autumn Term

Modern Drama: An Inspector Calls

Key knowledge/ concepts: dramatic devices; Edwardian England and post-WW2 (1912 and 1945); social class and inequality; protest and the proletariat revolution; the text as a construct/ microcosm/ political diatribe

Language Paper 2 section B

Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master persuasive linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types (non-fiction)

Spring Term

Modern Poetry: Love and Relationships Anthology and unseen poetry

Key knowledge/ concepts: poetic techniques (language, form and structure) including dramatic monologue and the sonnet form; gender/society in the Victorian era; types of love. Consolidate and master writing to narrate/describe – language, form and structure

Language Paper 1 sections A and B Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master the analysis and production of creative writing linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types

Summer Term

19th Century Prose: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Key knowledge/ concepts: Victorian era historical context; social class; repression and Freud (id, ego, superego); the concept of civilisation versus savagery and man’s inherent evil; gothic and the supernatural; duality; microcosm

Year 11

Autumn Term

19th Century Prose: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Shakespeare: Macbeth revisited

Key knowledge/ concepts: Further aspects of tragedy and the tragic hero; the Jacobean era historical context; gothic and the supernatural; fate versus free will; duality; dramatic techniques and elements of staging,

Language: Paper 2 section A

Key knowledge/ concepts: consolidate and master the analysis of persuasive linguistic and structural features, audience, purpose and text types (non-fiction)