Subjects

• 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 Shakespearean romantic comedy exploring gender roles and mistaken identities to allow students to gain an insight into the context, structure and language of Shakespeare.

• 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 =  A Jacobean Shakespearean 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.

• 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.

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.

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.

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.

In English, reading is the fundamental of our subject. Our language and literature texts give our pupils the chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually and socially. Every lesson, students are offered opportunities to explore challenging and demanding texts in order to predict, clarify, summarise and question characters, themes, authorial intent and unpick the layers of meaning found within. Teachers model reading aloud to allow complex ideas and vocabulary to become more accessible and for students to emulate and grow in confidence as they tackle increasingly challenging texts with topical issues. 

Through our wide variety of clubs and extracurricular activities (Book Club, Debate Club, Literature Society)  pupils are encouraged to read outside of the curriculum and expand their understanding of the world around them. Not only this, but our students have had visits from professional writers such as authors Robert Goodale and Danielle Jawando to broaden their horizons and encourage creativity. Through trips to Waterstones and Wigan Library, pupils have also seen reading outside the context of school whilst taking part in workshops with current poets. 

Click here to view the suggested reads poster.
Please note: the images of the book covers are clickable hyperlinks to the book.