English
YEARS 7 – 9
The programme of study for Key Stage 3
Language Work:
During years 7 – 9 students undertake a programme of language work designed to improve their essential skills and, at the same time, to develop a sensitive and critical awareness of style and language in use. A wide variety of exercises and stimulus material is used to encourage interest and promote further investigation and discussion of the writers’ purpose and craft. Extensive time is given to different types of writing and the various skills required for producing appropriate texts for a given audience. Students also develop the essential skills of speaking and listening.
Literature Work:
A selection of novels, short stories, plays and poems is studied, both acknowledged classics and the work of contemporary writers. Each pupil will study at least two Shakespeare plays. Private reading is also actively encouraged through the use of the school study centre.
The aim is to enrich and extend children’s experience by an imaginative participation of life as mirrored in books, and to prepare them to use language functionally in and out of school.
English at Key Stage 4
English Language
The English Language course consists of three units and combines controlled assessment and one examination. Controlled assessments will take place on the Spoken Voice in the autumn term which will include writing a script and analysing spontaneous conversations. In the summer term a Different Cultures text will be studied in addition to preparation for the Writing examination the following January. Before the end of the academic year, speaking and listening tasks will be undertaken as part of their coursework portfolio.
English Literature
The English Literature course also consists of three units but with this course there are two examinations and only one controlled assessment unit. Students will be studying Romeo and Juliet and a modern drama text in the spring term as part of their controlled assessment unit. They will also explore a modern novel and approximately fifteen poems on a chosen theme from a variety of periods.
English Language A Level
During the AS course students are given the opportunity to explore and analyse written texts. They will also demonstrate their ability to be focused with language. Time is spent on investigating how people communicate, including the analysis of ‘real life’ conversations as well as scripted drama texts.
There is one 2.5 hr examination (120 marks) called the Language of Texts at AS Level. Students are expected to analyse several non fiction texts, identifying bias attitudes and ‘voice’ as appropriate. There is an expectation that links and connections will be made between texts. In the AS coursework (80 marks) students are expected to produce some creative fiction writing and an analytical commentary. They will also study the spoken language of the media choosing an extract from film, television or the radio to analyse.
At A2 many of the skills practised in Year 12 are reinforced. Students study spoken language and language change and undertake a two part coursework investigation which includes spoken and written language. There is one 2.5 hour examination at A2 called Analysing and Evaluating Language Modes and Contexts (120 marks). Students are required to analyse at least two spoken transcriptions and respond to texts from different periods where language has changed over time.
In their A2 coursework (80 marks) students write an informative and analytical text such as an obituary or travel writing. They also pursue an independent language investigation on an appropriate topic of their choice.
English Literature A Level
AS students study two post 1900 Poetry texts; one post 1900 Drama text and a prose text written between 1800 and 1945. They will analyse various extracts from other literary texts and these will be used as a stimulus for creative writing of their own. They will also produce an explanatory commentary on how and why they have structured their original writing in a particular manner.
There is one examination of 2.5 hours (120 marks) in which students will respond to a poetry and a drama question. They are permitted to take the texts into the examination. Students also undertake a compulsory unit of coursework (80 marks).
Currently we are studying Carol Ann Duffy and Sheenagh Pugh’s poetry and Kindertransport by Diane Samuels for the examination. Tess of the D’Urbervilles is taught for coursework and then students select their own partner text for comparative purposes. The creative writing task will necessitate students selecting their own text to be used as a stimulus for their own writing and analysis.
At A2 students will study a further two units: an examination unit of two drama texts including Shakespeare and a poetry text (pre 1800). There is also a second coursework unit which demands independent research and learning. Three texts are studied from different periods and genres. One text must be prose and one text must be poetry.
The examination unit (120 marks) lasts 2.5 hours and students will study Hamlet, The Revenger’s Tragedy and either William Blake or John Donne’s poetry. The coursework unit (80 marks) is an assignment of 3000 words and will link the student’s choice of three texts thus enabling the pupils to focus on key aspects of these texts.