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 3 Curriculum Maps
Key Stage 4 Curriculum Maps
Super Curriculum
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