KS4 - English

 Curriculum Knowledge

Year 10: In Year 10, we begin with fiction writing allowing students to begin their preparation for English Language, Paper 1. Following this, we move onto the study of An Inspector Calls; this is an accessible set text that establishes the skills required for English Literature. We then build on students’ understanding of poetry from KS3 with the study of the set cluster of poetry for English Literature Paper 2; this completes their preparation for this exam. Prior to Easter, we teach the reading skills required for Section A of English Language Paper 1, meaning that we have now finished the study of two papers and can assess these as part of the Year 10 exams. After Easter, we move onto English Literature Paper 1 and teach A Christmas Carol; again this is an accessible text but there is a development in the complexity of the language as it is a 19th Century text. We end Yr10 with teaching non-fiction writing for English Language Paper 2; a more complex paper in comparison to Paper 1.

Year 11: We begin Year 11 with the study of Macbeth; the most challenging of the literature texts owing to the Shakespearean language. Following this we teach the reading skills required for English Language Paper 2, meaning that all four papers have been taught. The time between Christmas and May half term is then spent revising the content; firstly focusing on English Language in order to consolidate these skills before moving onto English Literature as this is more ‘content heavy’ and requires a lot of students’ memory skills and well as the exam specific skill.

Skill Development

Subject Specific Skills:

• Confidently communicate concepts and viewpoints in speech and writing using a wide range of linguistic and structural devices to suit the audience and purpose
• Ability to make a range of inferences from both literal and figurative texts that are justified and supporting using textual evidence and analysis
• Engagement with a range of texts/ audiences/ purposes

Wider Academic Skills / Attributes:

• Critical thinkers who are confident to question the world around them
• Formulation and development of justified argument
• To be able to listen and synthesise what someone has said
• Development of a wide and sophisticated vocabulary
• To read in order to gain knowledge and enjoyment

Personal Development - SMSC & Cultural Capital (Opportunities / Experiences)

• Collaborative work and cooperative skills
• Tolerance 
• Empathy and emotional intelligence
• Equality 
• Justice
• Appreciation of questions of political and social justice and injustice 
• Sense of identity
• Vocabulary to express emotion
• Political and cultural awareness
• World literature and other cultures

• Links to local events or local literary heritage