English

The English faculty follows the AQA exam specifications in both English Language and English Literature.  PDF documents detailing both specifications can be found via the links below:

English Language
English Literature

Key Stage 3 English Overview

Year 7

Autumn Term		Spring Term		Summer Term
Sep - Oct	Nov - Dec	Jan - Feb	Feb - Easter	Easter - May	May - July
Oliver Twist Reading analysis Accelerated Reader Literacy/ Creative Writing		A Midsummer Night’s Dream Creative Writing Accelerated Reader Literacy/ Creative Writing		Poems from other cultures Poetry analysis Accelerated Reader Literacy – Writing with a Viewpoint	Travel Writing Writing with a viewpoint Accelerated Reader Literacy – Writing with a Viewpoint

 

Year 8  

Autumn Term		Spring Term		Summer Term
Sep - Oct	Nov - Dec	Jan - Feb	Feb - Easter	Easter - May	May - July
Renaissance: Sonnets and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Poetry analysis Accelerated Reader Literacy/ Writing with a Viewpoint	Renaissance Continued... Nineteenth-Century Fiction Reading analysis Accelerated Reader Literacy/ Creative Writing	Nineteenth-Century Fiction Continued...	Conflict in Literature Accelerated Reader Creative Writing Literacy/ Creative Writing	Conflict in Literature Continued... Short Story Genre Accelerated Reader Literacy – Writing with a Viewpoint	Short Story Genre: ‘The Whole Town’s Sleeping’ TBC – oracy task? Accelerated Reader Literacy – Writing with a Viewpoint

 

Year 9 

Autumn Term		Spring Term		Summer Term
Sep - Oct	Nov - Dec	Jan - Feb	Feb - Easter	Easter - May	May - July
Gender in Literature – The representation of gender over time Reading analysis Creative Writing	‘Of Mice and Men’ whole text –  Literary analysis Creative Writing		Rhetoric Unit Writing a speech Writing with a viewpoint	Power and Conflict Poetry KS4 entry – poetry comparison Independent Reading

 

Key Stage 4 - GCSE English 

Year 10

Autumn Term		Spring Term		Summer Term
Sep - Oct	Nov - Dec	Jan - Feb	Feb - Easter	Easter - May	May - July
Paper 1A Language ‘A Christmas Carol’	Paper 1B Language ‘A Christmas Carol’		Paper 2A Language ‘Macbeth’	Paper 2B Language ‘Macbeth’	Paper 2 Language  ‘Macbeth’ continued... Spoken Language endorsement

 

Year 11

Autumn Term		Spring Term		Summer Term
Sep - Oct	Nov - Dec	Jan - Feb	Feb - Easter	Easter - May	May - July
Re-consolidate Language Paper 2 ‘An Inspector Calls’	Re-consolidate Language Paper 1 ‘An Inspector Calls’	Re-consolidation of poetry and unseen		Revision

 

Additional Curriculum Information

Intent

The pupils of Jarrow School merit an English curriculum which is demanding, ambitious, imaginative and inclusive, and which arms them with a rich knowledge base and enables them to make informed choices in life; the English Faculty is powered by a collective mission to meet this need, and sets itself apart with a clear focus on the powerful simplicity of a single word: Why?  And the reasoning behind this? That’s simple: a focus on purpose is a focus on impact.

SEND and More Able Students

High aspirations underpin the basis of the English curriculum, regardless of ability. Our documentation and practice make it clear that all students will access our curriculum. We aim for the top in our teaching, and scaffold as appropriate to meet the needs of our students. Of course, we fully acknowledge that accessing the curriculum is more problematic for some students than others, and this is where teacher skill and differentiation are called upon. Strategies can range from something as simple as where a student is seated in class to detailed adjustment of teaching resources. Needs are assessed on an individual basis. All teachers read and record relevant information regarding student needs and use this information to inform planning. More able students may be placed on the subject area’s Most Able and Talented list, which means that they will be eligible for any opportunities or challenges that arise.

Some of the more explicit strategies that may be adopted when teaching SEND students include the following:

• Reciprocal Reading, which enables a structured approach to reading and allows students to learn through group exploration of a text.
• Re-reading, which enables students to first hear a teacher or other proficient reader fluently read the text aloud before tackling it themselves.
• Frequent low-stakes quizzing and retrieval tasks.
• Writing scaffolds.
• Vocabulary banks.
• Access to intervention sessions.

At the other end of the spectrum, students identified as More Able may encounter strategies such as these:

• Increased opportunities for extended writing.
• Exposure to wider reading material beyond the specified tasks.
• Greater access to assessment criteria and how to meet it.
• Development of a ‘critical voice’ through encouragement of a more formal style.

Homework

The English staff follow a policy of setting at least one homework per half-term. Given that our primary focus is on developing resilience and independence, the vast majority of our homework tasks involve revision of some sort that will then be tested in class. Revision is expected to be undertaken prior to each assessment; this will involve undertaking independent revision at home. Further homework tasks are set as the need arises.

Assessment

In English students are assessed via various methods. On a day to day basis, assessment takes place through questioning, whole-class feedback and low-stakes testing. Each unit of work is assessed through a final assessment, which is followed by feedback and intervention. At Key Stage 3 we use percentages to gauge students’ performance and their place within their teaching group.