English Faculty
Teaching and Learning Director
Mrs C Banham
The English Faculty’s policy is to empower and inspire literate individuals who are competent and confident users of English, whilst providing opportunities for all students to achieve their full potential and to promote and enable academic achievement of the highest calibre. Not least among our aims is a desire to foster within our students a love of English.
Overview of Curriculum Key Stage 3
Throughout their time at Oulder Hill, students in KS3 are taught English in mixed ability groups: students who need additional help with their reading skills are placed in a group with students of similar needs, enabling focused and effective intervention to take place. This is supported by our Nuture group in Year 7. Similarly, throughout KS3, students who are consistently excelling and/or have a flight path of 7+ are placed in the same group. All groups are reviewed regularly.
Each year group has 4 one hour lessons per week. In year 7, it is the policy of the school that classes be kept as small as possible. Students will be set homework on a regular basis, usually twice a week. Homework will involve either a writing task, research, planning, learning or reading. Each homework will normally involve about thirty minutes of private study. Students are assessed regularly in lessons and at the end of each unit of work with a common assessment piece. Staff will make constructive comments which aim to point out the strengths in their work and highlight weaknesses for future action.
HT1 | HT2 | HT3 | HT4 | HT5 | HT6 | |||||
Y7 |
3 weeks Transition SOL Short Story
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Novel: Animal Farm (Set 1) Oliver Twist (all other sets) |
Fiction Writing: Using extracts as a stimulus | Poetry: Other Cultures |
Shakespeare Project: Vocabulary Heroes and Villains Speeches |
Class reader for one lesson a week
Non-fiction writing using articles |
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Y8 |
3 weeks revisiting Revisit key skills for Y7
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Novel: LOTFs (Set 1) OMAM (all other sets) |
Shakespeare: Using R&J extracts as a stimulus
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Poetry: Relationships
Class reader for one lesson a week |
HT1 | HT2 | HT3 | HT4 | HT5 | HT6 | |
Y9 |
Novel: I am Malala |
Shakespeare: The Tempest Top sets to read Shakespeare’s English Other sets to read translation with key extracts in Shakespeare’s English Interpretation through study and performance |
Poetry | |||
Non fiction extracts (identity, character and culture) to support language analysis
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S&L opportunities – topic students are passionate about |
Overview of Curriculum Key Stage 4
Pupils in current Year 10 and 11 are following 2 GCSE qualifications, one in English Language and the other in English Literature. They will be awarded 2 separate GCSE grades following their exams in the summer term. Both GCSE qualifications are obtained through an exam worth 100% of the final grade awarded. There is also an Individual Speaking Test which students must undertake, which is recorded, and this is a separate qualification. There is only one tier of entry for examination in both Language and Literature
Set in KS4 are similar to those in KS3: students are mostly mixed ability, with the exception of students who may require additional reading intervention and students who are consistently excelling and/or have a flightpath of 7+ are placed in the same group. Once again, all groups are reviewed regularly.
The specification code for GCSE English Language is 8700 (UK):
The specification code for GCSE English Literature is 8702:
HT1 | HT2 | HT3 | HT4 | HT5 | HT6 | |
Y10 Language |
Language P1b: Narrative/descriptive |
Language P1a: Reading (Structuring answers) |
Language P2a: Reading (Structuring answers and timed conditions to be developed towards later part of the HT) |
Literature P2b&c: Unseen and Comparison Unseen (Structuring answers) |
Language P2b: Writing for a purpose (structuring answers) |
Language P2b: Writing for a purpose Develop for S&L presentations |
Y10 Literature | Literature P1b: Macbeth | Literature P2a: AIC knowledge and context focus |
Literature P2a: AIC Knowledge and context focus (continuation) |
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Y11 Language |
Language P2: Reading Skills and Writing for a Purpose (Recap structure and develop to timed conditions) |
Language P1: Reading Skills and Narrative/Descriptive Writing (recap structure and develop to timed conditions) |
Class Teacher to deicide according to QLA analysis from PPEs |
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Y11 Literature | Literature P2b&c: Unseen and Comparison Unseen (Recap structure and develop to timed conditions) | Literature P1a: ACC & Shakespeare (Recap plot, methods and context. Develop to timed conditions) | Class teacher to decide according to QLA analysis from PPEs |