English

We deliver a challenging and engaging English curriculum that is designed to promote critical thinking, develop skills and inspire students through reading a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

Our team is committed to fostering an enjoyment of literature and language through engaging with different genres, authors and eras of writing as a student goes through the key stages. Our aim is that every child leaves Sandringham confident in shaping informed opinions and sharing them, both verbally and in writing. Our curriculum offer is designed to provide breadth and depth and build students’ cultural capital.

Our team is committed to fostering an enjoyment of literature and language through different texts, topics and activities. Our aim is that every child leaves Sandringham confident in shaping informed opinions and sharing them, both verbally and in writing, and takes pleasure in exploring a wide range literature.

Key Stage 3

Students build on skills developed at Key Stage 2 through a thematic approach to a range of texts and topics. Grouped in mixed prior-attainment classes, lessons offer a space for students to learn and develop at their own pace. Students complete a variety of writing, reading, and speaking and listening tasks, receiving regular feedback to help them progress. In years 7&8, lessons are split between two which focus on a core and a single lesson on satellite texts focused on developing reading, comprehension and oracy. This enables us to take students through a broad range of both fiction and non-fiction, and for students to explore how ideas can be shaped, challenged and changed. In Year 9 students focus on developing their skills in preparation for their GCSE English Literature and English Language courses

Year 7:

Kindness – Core text: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Identity – Core text: an anthology of poetry on identity

Fantasy – Core text: The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Year 8

Dystopia – Core text: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Gothic – Core Text: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Relationships – Core text: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Year 9

Term 1 – Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and war literature (an anthology of extracts)

Term 2 – creative writing and Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Term 3 – exploring characters in literature (an anthology of extracts) and speaking and listening assessment

Key Stage 4

Students study for two separate GCSEs, following the AQA specifications for both English Language and English Literature. Students are also entered for the Spoken Language Endorsement: a qualification assessing speaking and listening skills that will appear on the students’ GCSE certificates alongside their English Literature and English Language results. Students follow a clear pathway through both literature and language, developing skills throughout the course which are applicable to both subjects’ examinations.

Core Texts:

An Inspector Calls, B.Priestley
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, L. Stevenson
Macbeth, Shakespeare
Poetry Anthology: Love & Relationships, AQA Various

Students are taught in mixed prior-attainment groups for their GCSE courses. In September 2019 we made the change from teaching in sets based upon prior attainment. This was in light of research into the best outcomes for all students. This move has allowed all students to be exposed to, and benefit from, a broad exchange of ideas through discussion, and so develop a more insightful response to texts and tasks. This also gives us the ability to have even class numbers across the year group. This removes the larger ‘top’ sets which often occur. The result of this is that staff have more time for each student and are able to offer a more personalised approach to the delivery of the curriculum.

Key Stage 5

We offer A Level English Literature and A Level English Language as two separate qualifications. For both, we deliver the AQA specifications, taking option A for English Literature.

A Level English Literature

Through studying Literature at A Level, students have the opportunity to explore a more diverse range of texts in significant detail. Students prepare for two examined papers: Paper 1: Love through the ages, and Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts: Literature from 1945 to present day.

Exam texts studied for Paper 1:

Othello by William Shakespeare

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Per-1900 Poetry anthology

Exam texts studied for Paper 2:

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Feminine Gospels by Carol Ann Duffy

Coursework

The third component consists of an independent critical essay, where students write a 2500 word comparative response to a self-selected question, exploring two texts of their choice.

A Level English Language

Through studying English Language at A Level, students are given opportunities to develop skills and extend their understanding of the significance of English beyond what they will have studied at GCSE. Students are offered opportunities to develop linguistic knowledge as well as developing their independent writing skills in an area of English that they are especially interested in.

Students will follow AQA’s specification by completing two examinations and an NEA folder as outlined below:

Paper 1: Textual Variations and Representations

Paper 2: Language Variation and Change

Non Exam Assessment (NEA): Language in Action

The breadth of study includes:

Language the Individual and Society: we explore features of and ideas relating to adolescent speech, gender, accents and dialects, power and occupational language.
Language Diversity and Change: we study the main historical influences on English and explore the issues raised as English continues to evolve as a global language.
Child language development: students analyse and critically evaluate the debates surrounding the main stages of language acquisition and the ways in which we learn to communicate.
Language In Action – NEA folder:

Original Writing – students explore a written genre of English that interests them and then adopt those generic conventions to create their own original piece in that style.

Language Investigation – students choose to investigate and produce an extended analysis of an area of English that interests them.

How parents and carers can support learning

Students will be set regular tasks to complete at home (HBL). Parents and carers should use Google Classroom Guardian Summaries to talk through this work whenever possible. Further to this, reading with your son/daughter or, as they grow, asking them about what they are reading – both fiction and non-fiction – has significant benefits to their ability to access not just the English curriculum, but the wider curriculum as a whole. It is also a fantastic way to develop concentration and to relax after a long day at school!

Extra-curricular activities

Creative Writing Club, Miss Critchley
Youth Talks, a club developing public speaking and debate skills with students competing locally and nationally against other schools, Miss Fox
WCSQM Essay Writing Competition, years 9&10, Miss Clifford
Theatre Trips, KS4&5
Attendance at university style lectures, KS5

Beyond this, students are given reading lists around units so that they can explore themes, ideas, and genres further in their own time.

Useful Links

Seneca Learning is a fantastic resource which can be accessed through students’ My Sandstorm accounts:

https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/

AQA English pages where you can access specifications, past papers and mark schemes for KS4 and KS5

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english

BBC Bitesize where you can access revision pages for some of the texts and topics (including writing skills) studied at KS3 – this can support with some HBL tasks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z3kw2hv

University of Bristol – grammar exercises: a useful page to help all writes understand different punctuation and grammatical structures

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_41.htm