English Department
KS3 Y7 English
Pupils are taught using the framework for the Literacy Strategy.
In term one they learn about the author’s craft by studying: short stories by Roald Dahl and Edgar Allan Poe; poems by W.W. Gibson and Southey. They are taught how to structure complex sentences and how to ensure variety in all that they write. In term two, the students look at the features of advertising and construct their own advertisements. They are taught how to recognise bias with the focus being on persuasive language.
In term three they read a novel or play of the teacher’s choice.
KS3 Y8 English
In term one, pupils study the work of Guy de Maupassant and a range of poetry, following the National Curriculum through a variety of reading, writing and speaking and listening tasks. In term two, students study Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet focusing on key scenes and exploring the use of language in Elizabethan drama. In term three, again students follow a course of the teacher’s choice, looking perhaps at non-fiction writing or a film text.
KS3 Y9 English
Year 9 is a split year- students spend until Christmas studying travel writing. After Christmas, they become GCSE students and spend the rest of the year studying the Literature and English core text Of Mice and Men alongside a range of linked texts and films.
KS4 Y10/11 English
Most students follow the English Language and English Literature courses. From 2012, two classes, for whom the workload of those courses would be too broad, will study GCSE English and GCSE Media Studies.
English Language: this subject is examined in several ways. 20% of the final grade is given over to speaking and listening, 40% to controlled assessment and 40% to external exam. The external exams centre on reading and writing non-fiction texts; the controlled assessments tasks on narrative and descriptive writing, Of Mice and Men, and the study of spoken language.
English Literature: this subject is examined by two terminal exams (worth 75% between them) and one controlled assessment, worth 25%. The controlled assessment is based on the comparison of a Shakespeare play and a range of poetry. The exams feature essays on Of Mice and Men and an unseen poetry comparison on Paper 1 and then essays on A View from the Bridge/An Inspector Calls and Lord of the Flies/Heroes.
English: this subject is assessed through two exams, one based on non-fiction reading, the other on non-fiction writing (worth 20% each). The remaining 60% is given over to speaking and listening (for 20%) and controlled assessment for the remaining 40%- this is composed of one first person narrative and one third person narrative.
Media Studies: this subject is assessed through one 2hr 15 min examination during which students respond to stimulus material from the Board based on the convergence of contemporary media. They are also asked to demonstrate planning and creative skills through a series of creative tasks. This exam is worth 40%. The remaining 60% is given over to controlled assessment tasks.
WJEC GCSE English and English Language