Our aim is to equip our students with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to become reflective and life-long learners in an ever- changing world. Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on human nature, human society, how we live our lives and the fundamental issues of human existence. Students are provided with opportunities to immerse themselves in texts that inspire, engaging with a wide range of genres, time periods, contexts, and authors, from canonical classics to contemporary works. Our Middle Years Programme provides a wider scope of learning enabling students to make explicit links to the world in which they live in and use these connections to become lifelong learners. The diversity of texts studied, both fiction and non-fiction, provide a social, moral, and cultural education which reflects the modern diverse world they live in. We aim to provide students with the skills they need to appreciate the power of language, both written and spoken, to understand how texts are structured and how different forms are used by writers. Through the examination of writer’s craft and critical reading of texts, students can develop their own perspectives, originality and creative flair. We strive to promote personal growth with a focus on developing students’ deeper level thinking skills through the exploration of themes within texts which challenge the human condition. Students can empathise with writers, characters, and contexts, reflecting on their beliefs, feelings, and morals of others, to develop mutual tolerance, respect and individuality.
Students are taught over 3 lessons a week
Students are taught over 3 lessons a week
Students are taught over 3 lessons a week
At Key Stage 3, unit plans are based on ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum through the use of our scheme of work and the MYP framework. The scheme of work aims to capture the interest of students and motivate and prepare them to have a solid grounding to begin their GCSE journey.
We will be deploying the 7 IB literary concepts in the Middle Years Programme to create connections across all years and texts. This will support our students in their (potential) seven year journey with us: Identity, Culture, Creativity, Communication, Transformation, Perspective, Representation.
MYP language and literature courses equip students with linguistic, analytical and communicative skills that help to develop interdisciplinary understanding. Students develop skills in six domains – listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting—both independently and with others. MYP language and literature courses include a balanced study of genres and literary texts, including a world literature component. Students’ interactions with texts generate moral, social, economic, political, cultural and environmental insights. Through their studies, students learn how to form opinions, make decisions, and engage in ethical reasoning.
Students will be assessed under four different criteria:
Our aim is to equip our students with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to become reflective and life-long learners in an ever- changing world. Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on human nature, human society, how we live our lives and the fundamental issues of human existence. Students are provided with opportunities to immerse themselves in texts that inspire, engaging with a wide range of genres, time periods, contexts, and authors, from canonical classics to contemporary works. Our Middle Years Programme provides a wider scope of learning enabling students to make explicit links to the world in which they live in and use these connections to become lifelong learners. The diversity of texts studied, both fiction and non-fiction, provide a social, moral, and cultural education which reflects the modern diverse world they live in. We aim to provide students with the skills they need to appreciate the power of language, both written and spoken, to understand how texts are structured and how different forms are used by writers. Through the examination of writer’s craft and critical reading of texts, students can develop their own perspectives, originality and creative flair. We strive to promote personal growth with a focus on developing students’ deeper level thinking skills through the exploration of themes within texts which challenge the human condition. Students can empathise with writers, characters, and contexts, reflecting on their beliefs, feelings, and morals of others, to develop mutual tolerance, respect and individuality.
Students are taught over 4 lessons a week
Students are taught over 4 lessons a week
At KS4, our English Literature and Language curriculum aims to provide a comprehensive and engaging learning experience that builds students’ analytical, critical thinking, and communication skills while nurturing a lifelong appreciation for literature. Our interleaved curriculum enables students to revisit and interconnect key concepts and skills across both subjects throughout the course.
Students will be supported with a number of different types of assessment materials to ensure they reach their full potential.
The source for the reading questions will be a literature fiction text. It will be drawn from either the 20th or 21st century. Its genre will be prose fiction. It will include extracts from novels and short stories and focus on openings, endings, narrative perspectives and points of view, narrative or descriptive passages, character, atmospheric descriptions and other appropriate narrative and descriptive approaches. As a stimulus for students’ own writing, there will be a choice of scenario, written prompt or visual image that is related to the topic of the reading text in section A. The scenario sets out a context for writing with a designated audience, purpose and form that will differ to those specified on Paper 2.
The sources for the reading questions will be non-fiction and literary non-fiction texts. They will be drawn from the 19th century, and either the 20th or 21st century depending on the time period assessed in Paper 1 in each particular series. The combination selected will always provide students with an opportunity to consider viewpoints and perspectives over time. Choice of genre will include high quality journalism, articles, reports, essays, travel writing, accounts, sketches, letters, diaries, autobiography and biographical passages or other appropriate non-fiction and literary non-fiction forms. In section B, there will be a single writing task related to the theme of section A. It will specify audience, purpose and form, and will use a range of opinions, statements and writing scenarios to provoke a response.
Students will study one novel from the list of seven set texts. Students should study the whole text.
Students will study one from a choice of 12 set texts, which include post-1914 prose fiction and drama. Students should study the whole text. Students will study one cluster of poems taken from the AQA poetry anthology, Poems Past and Present. There is a choice of three clusters, each containing 15 poems. The poems in each cluster are thematically linked and were written between 1789 and the present day. In preparing for the unseen poetry section of the examination students should experience a wide range of poetry in order to develop their ability to closely analyse unseen poems. They should be able to analyse and compare key features such as their content, theme, structure and use of language.
Throughout years 10 and 11, students will be regularly assessed. This can take the form of short tests, exam style questions, classwork activities and/or homework tasks that have been set. At the end of year 10 students will sit a set of mock examinations in all subjects. Then in year 11, students will have two sets of mock examinations; one in module 2 and one in module 3.
Our KS5 A level English Literature B curriculum aims to inspire students to develop an in-depth understanding of Literature and its power to reflect, critique, and reshape society. Through focused study of Aspects of Tragedy and Elements of Political and Social Protest Writing, students will examine the ways literature reveals the human experience, confronts ethical and social issues, and challenges structures of power.
Students are taught over 5 lessons a week
Students are taught over 5 lessons a week
At KS5, our English Literature course is designed to engage students actively with literature, develop analytical skills, critical thinking, and a deep understanding of the texts they study. Through a structured and supportive learning environment, students are guided to tackle complex themes, contend with challenging texts, and explore multiple perspectives in order to build a sophisticated understanding of literary concepts.
Students will be supported with a number of different types of assessment materials to ensure they reach their full potential.
Students study three texts: one Shakespeare play, a second drama text and one further text. In addition to the compulsory Shakespeare play, one of the other two texts must be written pre-1900. The paper for this component is closed book. Students are not permitted to take a copy of their set texts into the exam.
Students study three texts: one post-2000 prose text, one poetry and one further text, one of which must be written pre-1900. They also respond to an unseen passage in the exam. The unseen extract can come from any of the genres of poetry, prose or drama and can include literary non-fiction. The paper for this component is open book. Students may take a copy of their set texts into the exam. These texts must not be annotated and must not contain any additional notes or materials.
In this component, students write about two different literary texts. One of the texts must be a poetry text and the other must be prose. Each text must be linked to a different section of the Critical anthology. Students cannot choose texts from any of the A-Level exam set text lists.
Throughout years 12 and 13, students will be regularly assessed. This can take the form of short tests, exam style questions, classwork activities and/or homework tasks that have been set. At the end of year 12 students will sit a set of mock examinations in all subjects. Then in year 13, students will have two sets of mock examinations; one in module 2 and one in module 3.
