English

Across Year 7, students explore through literature and language, what is it to be moral. Their studies are sequence chronologically, so that they can see the development of thought throughout literary history. They begin by exploring the history of storytelling from the myths of the Ancient Greeks to the heroic legends of Beowulf and Sir Gawain. After this, students progress to Shakespeare’s The Tempest and learn what stagecraft can tell us about characters’ relative statuses and motivations. Year 7s then move on to study a selection of William Blake’s poetry to continue their exploration of how we can live a moral life and what it is to be innocent and experienced and then carry this into the Victorian text: Jekyll and Hyde where they can explore how individuals make decisions when faced with the unknown. They then move into the 20th Century, looking at the allegory Animal Farm which allows a close analysis of the morality of leaders and different political structures. Year 7s end the year with a collection of poetry by Benjamin Zephaniah where they look at the complexity of identity in modern Britain and the morality of labelling others. The study of narrative and non-fiction writing is threaded across the year, to ensure students grasp the mechanics of the written and spoken word, giving them many opportunities to explore their own personal voice. Students will also have the opportunity to perform their own poems and speeches at six points across the year, building their confidence and articulation, so that they are empowered to be active and informed citizens.

Across Year 8, students explore through literature and language how we manage conflict between the individual and society. Their studies are sequence chronologically, so that they can see the development of this conflict throughout literary history. They begin the year analysing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to explore the tensions between individual motivations and social and family structures, progressing then onto a collection of War Poetry that spans from 1914 to the early 2000s and incorporates a wide range of voices and perspectives of a range of different conflicts. Their study of the individual versus society is then brought into the modernist play Journey’s End which allows a unique psychological and dramatic exploration of the effects of conflict on individuals. Year 8 then progress onto a collection of Dystopian short stories that seek to critique larger, perhaps more alarming social structures that seek to manipulate their citizens, before progressing onto a study of non-fiction speeches where individuals from seminal moments in history have used their voices to work for change in their societies. The study of narrative and non-fiction writing is threaded across the year, to ensure students grasp the mechanics of the written and spoken word across the year, giving them many opportunities to explore their own personal voice. Students will also have the opportunity to perform their own poems and speeches at six points across the year, building their confidence and articulation, so that they are empowered to be active and informed citizens.

As the final year of Key Stage Three, Year 9 students explore through literature and language how identity is weaponised and how we might overcome this. Their studies are sequence chronologically, so that they can see the development of this concept throughout literary history. Students commence the year looking at the presentation of gender, race and hierarchy in Shakespeare’s Othello, critically engaging with the concepts within. They then move onto the mid-century play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, where they explore in depth how we come to define ourselves and how society can weaponise our identity and reputation against us. They then move onto the post-modernist novel Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, which explores how an individual choses to define themselves with love, loss and moral courage. Year 9s end the year with an anthology of poetry by a range of different authors who present the complexity of different identities and their interplay with society at large. The study of narrative and non-fiction writing is threaded across the year, to ensure students grasp the mechanics of the written and spoken word across the year, giving them many opportunities to explore their own personal voice. Students will also have the opportunity to perform their own poems and speeches at six points across the year, building their confidence and articulation, so that they are empowered to be active and informed citizens. 

Students commence their preparation for their AQA GCSE exams by looking at Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, exploring in depth its characters, themes and form. They then move on to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where their study of tragic form from KS3 is further enhanced. Following this they look at Language Paper 1, before moving onto a study of four core poems from the Power and Conflict Anthology. In the Summer, they progress onto Language Paper 2, before concluding their study of the remained of the Power and Conflict Anthology, developing their comparative abilities. 

Students commence their final year of GCSE by studying the modernist play by J.B Priestley, An Inspector Calls before moving on to study a range of unseen poetry. This concludes their GCSE, with the remained of the year dedicated to a finely sequenced revision carousel ensuring their have fortnightly feedback in addition to their two mock exam periods. Year 11 students are expertly prepared for their exams with core knowledge milestones mapped across the year to ensure that the GCSE context for both Literature and Language is manageable and incrementally built. 

Throughout their preparation for Edexcel’s English Literature A level, students will analyse two drama texts: A Streetcar Named Desire and Othello. These texts build upon their knowledge of stagecraft from Key Stage 4, and begin to introduce them to critical interpretations of texts. They also further developing the skills of comparison through the study of two prose texts: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein comparing through the lens of science and society. With regard to poetry, students study two anthologies: a body of work by John Keats and a selection of poems from Poems of the Decade, an anthology of poetry written in the first decade of the 21st Century. Finally, at the end of Year 12, students will commence their independent Non Exam Assessment (coursework), comparing The Color Purple with another text that they have studied in their own time, which develops their ability to take ownership of their work, to manage their time, research and explore critical interpretations, and effectively draft and redraft a piece, which supports in setting them up for success at degree level.