The English Curriculum Area at Wilsthorpe is proud to have a dedicated, passionate and committed team of teachers who are English subject specialists. Through high expectations, cooperative classrooms and engaging lessons, we challenge all of our students to be their best. They are empowered to be able to read analytically, speak articulately, write with sophistication and understand the world around them. As a result of this, our students make excellent progress and develop their communication, independence, and critical-thinking skills. Students are taught in broad ability groups which we regularly evaluate and monitor.
Across a fortnightly timetable, students receive 5 English lessons, 1 Grammar lesson and 1 Library lesson. English lessons seek to deliver the curriculum, whilst Grammar lessons enable students to develop and apply their literacy skills. This prevents literacy becoming a barrier to learning and gives students the knowledge to enhance their reading and writing skills. The Library lesson is a real treat where pupils can nurture a life-long love for reading and be rewarded for their reading.
Across KS3, content is delivered through a thematic approach. Each theme allows a wide exploration of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and writing for different purposes to expose students to a wealth of texts and has been designed to build student’s skills in reading/analysis, writing and speaking. Students are assessed on the progress they have made towards specific skills every half-term.
Year 7 Topics
– ‘928 Miles from Home’
– Myths and Legends
– Around the World
Year 8 Topics
– War and Conflict
– ‘Of Mice and Men’
– The Gothic
Year 9 Topics
– Being a Teenager
– Dystopia
– ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
GCSE study provides students with the opportunity to study a diverse range of Literature; explore and analyse writers’ methods, evaluate and compare texts, relate texts to their context and write for different audiences and purposes.
In Key Stage 4, teaching builds on the skills and knowledge gained in Key Stage 3, with students studying AQA English Language and AQA English Literature.
English Language Paper 1
1 hour, 45 minutes
Section A: Analysing and evaluating an unseen fiction extract
Section B: Narrative or descriptive writing
English Language Paper 2
1 hour, 45 minutes
Section A: Analysing and comparing 2 unseen non-fiction sources
Section B: Writing to present a viewpoint
English Literature Paper 1
1 hour, 45 minutes
Section A: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ essay question
Section B: ‘Frankenstein’ essay question
English Literature Paper 2
2 hours, 15 minutes
Section A: ‘Animal Farm’ essay question
Section B: Essay comparing ‘Power and Conflict’ Poetry
Section C: Unseen Poetry analysis and comparison
At A-level, we offer AQA English Language and AQA English Literature Specification B. Students are encouraged to be independent, evaluative thinkers, in order to become ‘experts’ in their subject. Discussion and debate are central, alongside students engaging with critical theory and academic articles, preparing them for degree-level study and the workplace. Many of our A-level students go on to study at elite universities, previously including The University of Oxford and The University of Cambridge.
English Language
In A-level English Language, the course provides students with opportunities to explore a full range of communication, consider how language use reflects society and engage with a range of language debates. As a result of this, students also develop their own craft to become sophisticated writers.
Paper 1
2 hours, 30 minutes
Section A: Meanings and Representations – how do linguistic frameworks create meaning and representations within our world?
Section B: Child Language Acquisition – how do children learn to speak and write?
Paper 2
2 hours, 30 minutes
Section A: Language Diversity: Language and Gender; Language and Region; Language and Occupation; Language and Social Class.
Section B: Language Change: how has English changed and developed over time and why?
Coursework
Original Writing: Students research and produce a text of a particular genre and justify their linguistic choices.
Investigation: Students critically explore a specific area of the English Language that interests them.
English Literature
For A-level English Literature, students develop analytical and critical thinking skills through the study and discussion of a variety of literary texts. The course is broken down into three components to allow students to experience a range of poetry, plays and novels from pre-19th century to the current day.
Paper 1: Aspects of Tragedy
2 hours, 30 minutes
Section A: ‘Othello’– analysing an extract.
Section B:‘Othello’ – debate style essay.
Section C: Keats poetry selection and ‘Death of a Salesman’ – exploring tragedy through multiple texts.
Paper 2: Social and Political Protest Writing
3 hours
Section A: Unseen extract – exploring aspects of the genre in an unseen text.
Section B: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Kite Runner’, ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’ – debate-style essay.
Section C: Social and Political Protest – exploring the effects of the genre.
Coursework: Theory and Independence
Applying Marxist and Feminist critical theory to two texts of students’ choice.
Students can access the English folder in the Student Google Drive for lots of extra learning resources.
In addition, the English Curriculum Area offers many enrichment activities and projects for students, including:
- ‘Literacy Leaders’ leadership scheme
- BBC Young Reporter
- Poetry Society workshops
- Writing competitions
- Readathon: supporting reading in hospitals
- After-school revision sessions
- Cinema and theatre trips
