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Subjects

English

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller

Our curriculum is designed to provide students with the opportunity to decode and understand the socio-economic world around them. It offers them an insight into different time periods, cultures and political spheres, encouraging them to develop empathy and the ability to navigate life as fully informed young people. 

Our aim is to equip our students with the skills to write formal and academic essays as well as teach them to write imaginatively in order to confidently express themselves. Our students are taught to edit and redraft their work as they develop the resilience to write at length for a variety of purposes and audiences. Promoting high standards of literacy and language allows our students to develop a strong command of the spoken word which they use to develop their voice and viewpoint as they write thoughtfully, purposefully and creatively. We aim to enhance our students’ communication skills so that they are able to clearly and coherently take part in discussions and debate, as well as work collaboratively with their peers.

English lessons introduce students to challenging and demanding texts in order to develop their love of reading by allowing them to infer, evaluate and discuss various themes and characters in depth and detail. Our lessons not only expose our students to classical literature, but showcases modern literature too, thereby adding to their cultural capital as they read whole books in depth for both pleasure and information. With our Literature texts ranging from the classic to the contemporary, from past and present, our students are able to see life through the eyes of the writers who helped to shape the world around them, encouraging them to see themselves as people who have the ability to shape the future too.

Key Concepts

Narrative Structures and Traditions Community, Class, Identity and Hierarchy Power
Political beliefs Tragedy and Comedy War and Conflict
Poetic Forms and Traditions Religion, fate and the supernatural Gender and Art of Persuasion
Drama Symbolism, Metaphors and Motifs Text type, audience and purpose
Place and Culture Love and Relationships Humanity’s Relationship with Nature

Year 7 (Heroes and Villains)

  • Autumn term 1 and term 2 = A collection of short stories. An introduction to different authors from around the world and to the features of impressive short stories to enable students to build their knowledge of varying writing perspectives across literary texts including those from different time periods and continents.
  • Spring term 1 and term 2 = Animal Farm. An allegorical tale exploring the corrupt nature of man and beast whilst depicting the Russian Revolution to introduce powerful ideologies of power, corruption and voice.
  • Summer term 1 and term 2 = Twelfth Night. A Shakesperian romantic comedy exploring gender roles and mistaken identities to allow students to gain an insight into the context, structure and language of Shakespeare.

Year 8 (Power)

  • Autumn term 1 and term 2 = Blood Brothers. A musical play set in the mid 20th Century following the lives of twin boys separated at birth to allow students to explore the detrimental effect of class structure on both lives.
  • Spring term 1, Spring term 2 and Summer term 1 = Macbeth. A Jacobean Shakesperian tragedy dramatising the physical and psychological despair of greed and ambition in order to build confidence in analysing and understanding challenging texts.
  • Summer term 2 = The Pearl. A novella that depicts greed, evil and resistance of society’s conventions to understand the traditional narrative of the American dream.

Year 9 (Gender and Race)

  • Autumn term 1 and Autumn term 2 = The Jungle. A modern novella examining the life of a teenage refugee and how racial superiority impacts lives.  
  • Spring term 1 and Spring term 2 = A View from the Bridge. A modern play scrutinising the American Dream and an individual’s attempt to find his place to expose students to ideas around masculinity, community and reputation.
  • Summer term 1 and Summer term 2 = Othello. A tale of manipulation, jealousy and racial conflict set against the background of the Venetian-Turkish war to allow students to become well-read citizens equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to actively engage with adult life.

Poetry

Students will be studying an in depth collection of poems from around the world and across different eras throughout all three years in KS3. In Year 7, students will focus on epic poems and ballads, in Year 8 they will focus on protest poetry and sonnets and in Year 9, they will focus on contemporary poetry.

 

Language

Students will simultaneously be studying Language during KS3 to develop their understanding of the relationships between words, nuances in meaning and to improve their ability to use figurative language in a variety of sentence types in both fiction and non-fiction texts.

 

Reading Lessons

Our weekly reading lessons at KS3 allow our students to read a text with their teacher in order to establish the requisite skills, including modelling and questioning, needed to allow complex ideas and vocabulary to become more accessible.

Key Stage 4 Overview

The KS4 curriculum provides students with opportunities to build on their learning experiences gained during KS3.

 

GCSE English Literature (Eduqas):

  • Romeo and Juliet 
  • Anthology Poetry
  • A Christmas Carol
  • An Inspector Calls 

Our GCSE English Literature course allows our students to read a wide range of diverse texts in depth both critically and evaluatively in order to discuss and express a clear viewpoint. Our students learn to value and appreciate the importance of Literature and its heritage as they read challenging texts in the forms of prose, poetry and drama whilst simultaneously developing and acquiring a wide vocabulary alongside literary and linguistic terms. 

 

GCSE English Language (Eduqas):

Our GCSE English Language course allows our students to be assessed on challenging texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st Century. These texts, which range across different genres and types, provide effective models to help students develop their own writing. Our students will be able to read texts critically as well as synthesise and evaluate given texts. In terms of writing, our Language GCSE allows our students to develop their ability to produce clear and coherent texts to impact the reader.

Enrichment and other extracurricular activities

A wide range of English related enrichment options are available, including theatre trips, attending Poetry Live, participating in writing competitions and attending masterclasses and competitions with local colleges. We also run a Debate Club, a Reading Club and provide a multitude of extra opportunities for our G2G students.

 

Contact

Director of English Miss A Amdavadi a.amdavadi@sharplesschool.co.uk