KS3 Curriculum Summary (Literature and Language)
Our KS3 English curriculum is rich and balanced. Academic excellence, high expectations and creativity are the driving forces behind the structure of our curriculum with an aim to bring out the “best in everyone”.
Our curriculum does not simply reflect and cover the National Curriculum but goes beyond this; it also develops students’ character. We pride ourselves on our passionate and rigorous approach to teaching our young people and our programme is designed progressively to help students achieve highly in their future GCSE studies in English.
We cover traditional academic subjects but also meet the needs of the modern world. We don’t believe that there is a conflict between the two and therefore cover a range of literary texts to reflect this. We want our students to become masters of English, so they can be at the top of their chosen field whatever that may be: lawyer, plumber, estate agent, journalist, engineer, scientist, and teacher because we believe that a secure grounding in English extends far beyond the discreet academic subject - it prepares the way for our students’ success in adult life.
Students are assessed against 3 strands of KPIs in English: Language, Literature and Speaking & Listening. In years 7, 8 & 9 they work towards being secure in all the KPIs and achieving and age related Grade 4 in their respective year. All three year groups in KS3 sit exams in December and July. Year 7 and 8 sit mini mocks based on the GCSE Language Paper 1 and our Year 9 students sit mini mocks based on both Language Paper 1 and 2.
Reading: Understand the writer at work; interpret meaning from the writing of others’.
Writing: Be able to write convincingly for a range of audiences / purposes; communicate meaning effectively.
Speaking and Listening: Be able to speak articulately, adapting language and register as appropriate for audience/purpose.
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Year 7
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Year 8
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Year 9
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Modern Text Study
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Bone Sparrow
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A Monster Calls
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DNA
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19th Century Text
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Dystopian Extracts
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“Monster” Extracts including Frankenstein and Dracula
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A Christmas Carol
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Shakespeare Study
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The Tempest
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Romeo and Juliet
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Macbeth
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Poetry
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Nature Anthology
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Social Justice Anthology
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Relationships Anthology
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Non-fiction
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Asylum and Displacement non-fiction
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The Art of Rhetoric
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Relationships non-fiction
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Students also receive dedicated lessons in creative writing, literacy skills and fortnightly library lessons.
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Key Stage 4
Information on the Key Stage 4 course is available on Page 7 & 8 of the Options Booklet, please click here to download >>>
Key Stage 5
Sixth Form course is available from the Sixth Form page, click here >>>