English
Aims of the subject:
To provide students with an engaging curriculum that will enable students to appreciate the intricacies of language, including the beauty and versatility that language has in shaping meaning. By the end of Key Stage 4, students should be able to:
- read a wide range of high-quality and challenging texts, fluently and with good understanding
- read critically, and use knowledge gained from wide reading to inform and improve their own writing
- write effectively and coherently using Standard English appropriately
- use grammar correctly, punctuate and spell accurately
- acquire and apply a wide vocabulary, alongside a knowledge and understanding of grammatical terminology, and linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
- listen to and understand spoken language, and use spoken Standard English effectively
GCSE Examination Board: AQA
Assessment Overview:
Assessments comprise each part of the AQA specification:
- Language Component 1A: Reading 20thor 21st Century Literature
- Language Component 1B: Prose Writing
- Language Component 2A: Reading 19thCentury and either 20th or 21st Century Non-Fiction
- Language Component 2B: Transactional Writing
- Literature Component 1A: Shakespeare extract and essay
- Literature Component 1B: 19thCentury novel
- Literature Component 2A: Modern texts
- Literature Component 2B: Poetry
- Literature Component 2C: Unseen Poetry
| Year | What will I learn? | Assessment |
| 10 | Term 1
An Inspector Calls This will involve the study of the play (including social and historical context), focusing on key extracts in detail, with a particular focus on key characters, relationships, themes and ideas. This will also involve the practice of English Language Paper 2 Skills as part of the study of the text and surrounding social and historical contexts.
A Christmas Carol This will involve the study of the whole novella, focusing on key extracts in detail, with a particular focus on key characters, relationships, themes and ideas.
Term 2 Power and Conflict Poetry Study of a selection of poems from the Power and Conflict cluster of the AQA Anthology. English Language Paper 1 This will involve the reading and close analysis of a wide range of challenging literary extracts from the 20th and 21st Centuries. You will practice a wide range of reading skills and question types from short simple comprehension to more lengthy questions relating to structure, language choices and writer’s craft. You will also practise the skills of creative writing – both narrative and descriptive.
Term 3 English Language Paper 2 This will involve reading and close analysis of a wide range of challenging non-fiction texts from the 19th,20th and 21st Centuries. You will practice a range of reading skills from information retrieval to inference and deduction, and will become more confident in your understanding and appreciation of such texts. This will also involve revisiting transactional writing and being prepared to write more confidently and competently about a serious topic in which you have a point of view. |
Modern Text essay based on whole text (Literature 2A)
20th and 21st Century Literary extracts Reading (Language 1A)
19th Century novel extract and essay (Literature 1B) 19th, 20th and 21st Century Literature Reading (Language 1A) and non-fiction Reading (Language 2A) Poetry comparison (Literature 2B),
Prose Writing (Language 1B)
Transactional Writing (Language 2B) |
| 11 | Term 1
Macbeth This will involve study of the whole play, focusing on key scenes in detail, with a particular focus on key characters, relationships, themes and ideas. Term 2
Unseen Poetry and study of the remaining poems from the Power and Conflict cluster of the AQA Anthology. Completion of English Language and Literature course and revision of all components for the examinations prior to the external examinations. Term 3 Revision of all components for the examinations prior to the external examinations. |
Shakespeare extract and essay (Literature 1A)
Unseen Poetry response (Literature 2C). |
Extra-curricular opportunities
- Theatre trips and visits relating to set texts
- Revision sessions and workshops
- Creative writing competitions
How you can support your child’s progress
- As the English Language and Literature courses both require a great deal of reading (both whole texts – old and new, and shorter fiction and non-fiction texts), actively encouraging your child to read more often and more widely can only benefit them as they encounter a wider range of texts and become more confident in their approach to less familiar texts. Suggested texts include online and print Broadsheet news articles, magazine articles, travel writing, autobiographies and indeed good quality fiction texts including novels, plays and poetry. Not only will a love of reading improve your child’s creativity, it will also impact positively on their overall literacy.
- In terms of writing, actively encourage your child to proof-read their work to find any errors or areas for improvement. This will not only highlight the need to practise such skills for their English examinations, but also as a life skill for the future.
- Encourage your child to speak using Standard English, with grammatically correct sentences.
- Encourage your child to attend extra-curricular opportunities such as revision sessions, workshops and subject specific visits to gain more thorough understanding and appreciation of texts.
- Encourage your child to regularly access the vast array of online resources made available to them, including on GCSE Bitesize, Educake, Seneca etc, and/or to use revision guides to supplement the work completed in class and for homework.
- Encourage your child to revise the texts progressively along the course so that the knowledge is being consolidated regularly to improve their overall understanding by the end of the course.
- Encourage your child to learn key quotations from the set texts, so that they can use them confidently in their work.
- Encourage your child to plan answers to a range of exam questions, as practice is an invaluable form of revision in English.
