Key Stage 3
In Year 7 and 8 English is taught in mixed ability classes with a ‘Booster’ group for those students requiring more help with English.
Schemes of work are interactive and engaging, focusing on stimuli as diverse as Desert Island Discs and the Gothic genre. We teach about global diversity and how and why the English Language has changed through time. Students learn and practise the necessary skills of reading for meaning, articulating their ideas, writing in a variety of styles and speaking and listening individually and in group work. There is also an element of drama. We believe that it is vital for students to learn that English skills are transferable and necessary in all subjects and we therefore link students’ learning in class to other curricular areas as often as possible.
Gifted and Talented students in English are identified early by their teachers and invited to join in a variety of clubs and activities, including a writer’s workshop and a poetry master class.
Students who struggle in English are extracted into small intervention classes to help them improve their general literacy and catch up with their peers. We also have dyslexia specialists who work with students on a one to one programme of strategies.
Key Stage 3 English Curriculum
Year 7
Students will study creative, argumentative and persuasive writing, a modern play or novel, how to read and produce non-fiction texts, Beowulf and a Shakespearean comedy.
Year 8
Students will study the gothic genre, a Shakespearean play, focussing on close analysis of character, pre-1914 and contemporary poetry, a pre-1914 class novel as well as revisiting all the writing techniques used in Year 7.
Year 9
Students will begin to study texts and practise skills for their AQA English Language and Literature GCSE. This will include reading both pre and post non-fiction as well as fiction such as ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and ‘Macbeth.’ We will also write for a variety of purposes such as description and argument .
How will I be assessed?
There are three strands which are taught and assessed: reading, writing and speaking and listening. Students will be assessed through scrutiny of their classwork in books and helped to identify the steps they need to take to improve. Homework will also be set and marked frequently.
Where Could It Lead? Post 14
The skills in Year 7 and 8 will lead directly towards the skills and content needed for their GCSE English Language and Literature. Year 9 will be studying texts and skills which are within the syllabus of that GCSE.
This will be a course leading to a terminal examination in Year 11. There will be no tiering and no coursework.
Where Could It Lead? Post 16
A Level Literature or A Level Language and Literature.
Enrichment Opportunities
Students in English are identified by their teachers for a variety of clubs and activities, including writer’s workshops and poetry master classes.
Our Achievements
English at KEVICC is fun, challenging and engaging. But, most importantly, students do well at English and make real progress in this vital subject! Last year our KS4 English results were excellent, with 86% students achieving a C grade or higher in English Language and 70% of students achieving a C grade or higher in Literature – with 30% achieving an A or A*.
Contact
Sophie Greig, Faculty Leader