Welcome to the English Department
In English we love exploring how writers use language to create an impact on readers. We do this by examining and reading a range of different texts, from poetry, to novels to a range of fiction and nonfiction texts from different times and places. Once we understand how writers create exciting effects on their readers we can begin to improve our own writing. In English we write creatively and for different purposes, improving our use of language, organisation, punctuation and grammar. Communication includes speaking as well as writing, which is why in English we expect our students to work in groups or independently to present information to the class to help improve all aspects of communication.
Meet the English Department
The department team consists of ten members of staff. These are:
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Mrs D Wright | Head of Department |
| Miss S Eggleton | Assistant Headteacher |
| Mr J Brayshaw | Teacher of English & Progress Lead Year 9 & 10 |
| Miss K Robinson | Teacher of English |
| Ms L Stuart | Teacher of English |
| Mrs R Mahmud | Teacher of English |
| Miss S Brooks | Teacher of English |
| Ms R Southern | Teacher of English & Progress Lead Year 7 & 8 |
| Ms A Corringham | Teacher of English |
| Mr J Dickson | Teacher of English |
KS3 Reading and Writing Lessons
| Curriculum Overview | Topic | Content and skills |
| Year 7, 8 and 9 | Reading | At Key Stage 3, all students will have one lesson a week dedicated to reading a class text. These will be connected to their main unit of work in English. Click here for a selection of Class readers for website. The aim of these lessons is to expose students to a range of high quality texts, to deepen their understanding of their topic of study and to foster a love of reading. Students will have the opportunity to listen to their teacher model high quality reading in order to assist with their comprehension. They will also develop their own reading fluency through choral reading and partner reading. We aim to foster active reading skills in our students and complete regular active reading activities based on strategies for before, during and after reading. |
| Year 7, 8 and 9 | Writing | One lesson a week at Key Stage 3 is spent on writing skills. Our objective is to create a community of writers who feel confident and empowered to express themselves, their opinions and their creativity through the written word. We focus on the choices made by writers and give students the underlying knowledge they need about grammar and vocabulary to enable them to experiment and make deliberate choices in their writing. We focus on each of the different elements of good writing: transcription (handwriting and spelling), text generation (planning, vocabulary choices, structure and genre) and self-regulation (planning, editing and improving). Students have a publishing book in which they publish 6 finished pieces of writing each year that we can celebrate. |
Year 7
| Curriculum Overview | Topic | Content and skills |
| Term 1 | Heroes | Students will explore the big question of what makes a hero. We look at our Stretford House Ambassadors (David Attenborough, Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai and Marcus Rashford) and a range of heroes from Alan Turing through to Cristiano Ronaldo and Taylor Swift. We practice making inferences by looking beneath the surface of a text and we investigate a range of persuasive techniques used by authors to promote their hero. At the end of the term, each student will present to their class about their own personal hero, giving them an opportunity to put their persuasive skills into action |
| Term 2 | Victorian Literature | Students will explore the social and historical context of the Victorian period. They will meet some of literature’s best loved characters such as Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre and analyse how the famous authors used language to appeal to Victorian readers. They will then use the Victorian style of writing and apply it to their own piece of description based on Victorian London. |
| Term 3 | Crime | Students will explore a variety of writing styles based on the theme of crime and punishment. They will develop their skills in comparison by comparing how writers use language, structure and form to put across their ideas. They will discuss big questions like ‘what is the purpose of punishment?’ and ‘do prisons work?’ and will design their own prison. In half term 6, they will look at the purpose of the TV news in reporting crimes and will write and perform their own TV news report. At the end of the year, they will take part in a mock trial. |
Year 8
| Curriculum Overview | Topic | Content and skills |
| Term 1 | War Poetry and Persuasion | Students will explore how poetry has been used in response to times of conflict throughout the past century. They will start by looking at poetry from World War One, such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. They will also explore poetry about women’s role in the war. They will come to appreciate how language can be used to manipulate people by studying propaganda. They will then look at poetry written in response to more recent conflicts such as 9/11, the Iraq War, the Manchester Arena Bombing and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Students will also study the art of rhetoric and apply this to their own speech about the importance of Remembrance Day. A group of students will be selected to represent the school by performing their speeches at the Stretford Remembrance Day Parade. |
| Term 2 | Gothic | Students will explore a range of texts within the Gothic genre, from Dracula and Frankenstein, through to Twilight and Stranger Things. We will explore how texts are influenced by their social and historical context and we will focus in particular on the author’s intentions and key themes of the genre. In Half Term 4, they will write their own gothic story opening looking at how to create setting and characterisation, how to structure texts effectively and how to build tension. |
| Term 3 | Twelfth Night | We will be focussing on Shakespeare’s famous comedy Twelfth Night. We’ll look at the conventions of Shakespearean comedies and look at whether these still apply in comedies in the modern day. We’ll be zooming in on the big themes of types of love, gender (including exploring the spectrum of masculinities and femininities) and deception. In particular, we’ll be focussing on the skill of evaluation and will be weighing up our own opinions on different statements about the play. Students will have opportunities to perform parts of the play and we will be watching parts of a fantastic National Theatre Live production throughout the term. At the end of the year, students will take part in a creative project to design their own stage production of Twelfth Night. |
Year 9
| Curriculum Overview | Themes | Unit content |
| Term 1 | Why English? | Why do we study English? Students will be introduced to the importance of English in the curriculum. Year 9 will explore a range of texts through the ages, including poetry, that have contributed to the society we live in now. They will explore how English is a powerful tool within society for criticising, raising awareness, understanding and empathy. Students will be taught how to structure their writing in order to communicate their ideas and voice their opinions on English. |
| Term 2 | Shakespeare’s Othello | Students will explore Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Othello, focusing on how Shakespeare uses language, structure and dramatic techniques to present characters and themes. As well as completing written analysis in response to their reading of different extracts in the play; students will take part in drama activities to deepen their understanding of the key characters and ideas, and write creatively in response to key events in the play. |
| Term 3 | Speaking and Listening Endorsement | Students will begin the term looking at a range of non-fiction persuasive texts, drawing out how writer’s use rhetoric. Students will then work on their speaking and listening skill and create a persuasive speech to end a form of discrimination within society. |
| Project Genre | Students will have the opportunity to work independently championing a particular genre of their choice. They will be directed to a few key compulsory tasks that enhance their language and literature skills but they also have the opportunity to select a number of tasks that suit their ability and interest. |
Year 10
| Curriculum Overview | Topic | Content and skills |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section A – reading and analysing fiction texts | Students will explore a variety of writing styles of fiction writers from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, analysing how writers use language, structure and form to put across their ideas and evaluating the texts to equip them with the skills needed for their GCSE Language exam.Students will also complete a cold read of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and discuss theme, characters and intentions. |
| An Inspector Calls | Students will explore the social and historical context of the Edwardian period and analyse how the famous author used language, themes and structure to appeal to Edwardian readers and address social inequalities of the Edwardian period. Students will be required to analyse a theme or character within the play analysing characters, themes and Priestley’s’ use of language whilst developing skills of critical interpretation. | |
| Term 2 | A Christmas Carol | Students will read and explore A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens focusing on how Dickens uses language, structure and literary techniques to present characters and themes. Students will be preparing for their GCSE Literature exam by planning, editing and crafting their essay writing skills in response to an unseen extract and question on the novel. |
| GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section B – Writing imaginatively | Students will focus on honing their writer’s voice in a series of lessons that develops students to think like a writer and write like one! They will be exploring a range of genres including thriller, gothic and detective fiction. Students will be exposed to a range of challenging texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st Century to explore and analyse how writers create atmosphere and tension to apply their findings to their own writing. | |
| Term 3 | Unseen Poetry | Students will explore the language and structural techniques used by authors to present ideas in poetry. Students will analyse a variety of poetic structures and forms and explore how poetry is used to communicate big ideas about life throughout history. |
| GCSE English Language Paper 2 Section A – reading and analysing non- fiction texts | Students will focus on developing a clear writing voice in a range of transactional writing styles and formats. Students will look at topics that are relevant in today’s society such as Education, Careers and the NHS. Students will be given opportunities to discuss their own viewpoint and opinions, whilst developing the skills needed to be successful in communicating their viewpoint in writing to equip them with the skills needed for their GCSE English Exam. |
Year 11
| Curriculum Overview | Topic | Content and skills |
|---|---|---|
| Term 1 | Unseen Poetry and Power and Conflict Poetry | Students will explore the language and structural techniques used by authors to present ideas in poetry. Students will analyse a variety of poetic structures and forms and explore how poetry is used to communicate big ideas about life throughout history. Students will also study poems from the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology for GCSE English Literature, considering how the social, cultural and historical context of poems has influenced writers whilst developing skills of critical interpretation, analysis and comparison. |
| GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section A – reading and analysing fiction texts | Students will explore a variety of writing styles of fiction writers from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, analysing how writers use language, structure and form to put across their ideas and evaluating the texts to equip them with the skills needed for their GCSE mock exam this term. | |
| A Christmas Carol | Students will explore the social and historical context of the Victorian period and analyse how the famous author used language, themes and structure to appeal to Victorian readers and address social inequalities of the Victorian period. Students will be required to analyse a theme or character within an extract and elsewhere in the play as a whole so will study plot, characters, themes and Dickens’ use of language whilst developing skills of critical interpretation. | |
| GCSE English Language Paper 1 Section B – Writing imaginatively | Students will focus on honing their writer’s voice in a series of lessons that develops students to think like a writer and write like one! They will be exploring a range of genres including thriller, gothic and detective fiction. Students will be exposed to a range of challenging texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st Century to explore and analyse how writers create atmosphere and tension to apply their findings to their own writing. | |
| Term 2 | Macbeth | Students will explore this tragedy focusing on how Shakespeare uses language, structure and dramatic techniques to present characters and themes. Students are required to analyse a given extract and explore themes, ideas and characters presented in the extract and elsewhere in the play, we will work on developing skills of written analysis in response to their reading of the playStudents will explore the language and structural techniques used by authors to present ideas in poetry. |
| GCSE English Language Paper 2 Section A – reading and analysing non- fiction texts | Students will focus on developing a clear writing voice in a range of transactional writing styles and formats. Students will look at topics that are relevant in today’s society such as Education, Careers and the NHS. Students will be given opportunities to discuss their own viewpoint and opinions, whilst developing the skills needed to be successful in communicating their viewpoint in writing to equip them with the skills needed for their GCSE mock exam this term. | |
| Term 3 | Revision | Students will recap knowledge and skills learnt throughout the year, focusing on key areas in which they need more practice, in order to prepare for their final exams. |
