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English at Larches

At Larches High School we believe that it is our duty to inspire young people to see the real value of English in the wider world by accessing a variety of texts, making it interesting and accessible. Very often learners have little awareness of their own reading skills, especially in terms of inference and deduction. We aim to increase their confidence in reading, writing and overall communication, so that our learners are either able to reintegrate quickly into mainstream education or to achieve English Language and Literature GCSEs when they finish their high school education.

We aim to:

  • Develop literacy skills
  • Increase reading and writing skills
  • Prepare students for the demands of examinations and the workplace

Purpose of study

English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society. A high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language are essential to participating fully as a member of society; pupils, therefore, who do not learn to speak, read and write fluently and confidently are effectively disenfranchised.
(Dept. For Education)

KS3 English Curriculum Overview 

In addition to one dedicated literacy lesson per week, pupils will study the following:

Larches High School: Curriculum Planning 2023/24

Subject: English                                                                                                                             Year Group: KS3

Autumn Term 1 Autumn Term 2 Spring Term 1 Spring Term 2 Summer Term 1 Summer Term 2
Topics to be covered Overview of teaching and assessment

 

(highlighting indicates assessment focus for that half term)

Victorian Literature and Short Stories – Study of the Golden Age of English Literature. How narrative structure and genres flourished during rapid social change.

 

Assessment focus –Narrative Writing & Reading Assessment

 

A: the use of fictional worlds and speculative technology in a science fiction novel.

Examples: The Time Machine, H G Wells / Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne.

B: the use of setting and the supernatural in a Gothic novel to create mood and atmosphere. Examples: The Signalman, Charles Dickens / Dracula, Bram Stoker / Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier.

C: the use of character description and extremes in children’s literature. Examples: Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,  Lewis Carroll / Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

The Power of Language – Study of the art of persuasive writing and public speaking.

 

Assessment focus:

Persuasive Writing.

A: the use of linguistic devices, structure and tone in an article / advert / charity appeal editorials.

Examples: inequality, UNICEF / conflict and violence / climate emergency, Greta Thunberg.

B: the use of linguistic devices, structure and tone in a speech.

Examples: Barack Obama / Tony Blair / Kamala Harris.

C: the use of linguistic devices, structure and tone in protest songs and poetry.

Examples: Living for the City, Stevie Wonder / Freedom, Beyoncé / American Idiot, Green Day.

 

 

 

 

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

Dystopian Novels and Seminal Literature – Study and challenge readers to think differently about social and political climates.

 

Assessment Focus:

Reading Response

Extract – retrieval, inference, deduction,

Language, structure, tone.

A: Use of contrast in a dystopian novel and comparison with different societies. Example:

Divergent / Northern Lights  /The Maze Runner

Extracts from: The Chysalids /Never Let Me Go

B:Social issues portrayed in a dystopian novel.

Example: The Hunger Games / Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (full class reader)

Extracts from: Nineteen Eighty Four

 /There Will Come Soft Rains

C: Use of hierarchy within a dystopian novel.

Examples: Noughts and Crosses / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (full class reader)

Extracts from:

Animal farm / Mockingjay /

Harrison Bergeron

 

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

Autobiographical and Biographical Writing – Study extracts and learn to identify key features of autobiographical and biographical writing.

                               

Assessment Focus:

Transactional Writing

A: Historical figures

The use of questioning, structure, linguistic devices and tone in an article.

Extracts from:

Nelson Mandela

Anne Frank

Malcolm X

Roald Dahl

War Horse.

B: Sporting heroes

The use of linguistic devices, questioning, structure and tone in an informal letter. Extracts from: Tyson Fury, Victoria

Jessica Ennis Hill, Pendleton, David Beckham, Usain Bolt

 

C: Celebrity figures

The use of questioning, linguistic devices, structure and tone in a review.

Extracts from

Jason Fox (SAS)

Gordon Ramsay

Michelle Obama

Dave Grohl

Drake

 

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

Shakespeare

(Also covered in Drama at this point) – Study the relevance and openness of the plays to inspire thought and how his themes invite reinvention.

 

Assessment focus:

Extract Reading & Analysis

A: the use of language, structure, tone to convey loyalty, freedom, compassion and betrayal in

 The Tempest.

B: the use of language, structure, tone to convey racial prejudice, manipulation, and jealousy in Othello.

C: the use of language, structure, tone to convey friendship, love, relationships and revenge in Romeo and Juliet.

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

Poetry, Lyrics and Other Cultures – Poetry is one of the oldest literary art forms to express emotions, stories and memorable ideas.

 

Assessment focus:

Poetry Reading Analysis & Creative Writing

A: Use of language and structure in Pastoral Poetry. Examples: Fern Hill, Dylan Thomas / The Garden Guest by Laura Davies / The Shroud of Colour, Countee Cullen.

B: Use of language, theme and structure in Ballads.

Examples: The Lady of Shallot, Tennyson / The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge / Robin Hood, An Outlaw, James Henry Leigh Hunt

C: Use of language, theme and structure in War Poetry. Examples: What Were They Like?, Denise Levertov / War Photographer, Carol Ann Duffy / Mental Cases, Wilfred Owen.

Literacy –

1. MOT/dictation baseline testing

2. Weekly literacy lesson

3. Spelling test

Class Readers

/Texts/Extracts

·         Coraline B

·         Cirque du Freak C

·         Frankenstein A

·         Dracula – Oxford script A

·         My Family and Other Animals B

·         The Savage B

·         Holes C

·         The Breadwinner A

·         The Outsiders B

·         The Handmaid’s Tale B

·         The Running Man C

·         Wonder A

·         Ostrich Boys C

·         The Stars Beneath Our Feet A

·         Thousand Acres B

·         Dr Faustus C

·         War Horse B

·         Poetry Anthology

·         Hugo C

·         Only Ever Yours A

Suggested teaching & learning ideas 1: To understand family relationships in 19th century literature and study aspects of the social and historical context. Compare different authors’ presentation of education in literature.

2. Victorian concept: ‘invention of childhood’, helpless child characters and education laws. Issues raised in texts about the treatment of children – use of moral lessons in texts.

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

3. Narrative structure: Freytag’s pyramid. Study of elements of a story.

4. Adventure and mystery purpose in literature & imagery and setting.

5. The good, the bad and the ugly: characters in Victorian texts and use of imagery.

6. Understand elements of the Gothic tradition: pathetic fallacy, historical settings, dramatic events occur & the supernatural.

7. Science & religion: Darwin’s theory of evolution. Origin of Species 1859 created debate.

8. Independent research of real adventures during the 19th century – exploration and colonialism.

9. Analyse / create / continue an example of Victorian genre.

1: Classical era: Ancient Greeks. Aristotle’s: logos, ethos, and pathos – available means of persuasion.

2. Public Memory: repetition of phrases and symbolism in speeches and rhetorical devices.

3. Communication Today: how dialogues of power continue to evolve through technology but can also manifest harmfully.

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

4. Language and Gender: history of gender inequality, The Suffragettes, the Women’s Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s, and culture of domesticity.

5. Political Language: analysing the ‘metaphoric lens’ and war metaphor.

6. Language and Social Movements: how the tactics that marginalised groups were used to seek political change. Civil Rights, opposing the Vietnam war, LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter

7. Analyse independently the use linguistic devices and use examples in their persuasive writing.

8. Speed Debating to run through ethos, pathos, and logos with a set of argumentative prompts.

1: Latin roots – introduction dystopia and utopia. Select/discuss/identify/explain the conventions of dystopian fiction.

2: Apply and extend use of imaginative vocabulary and comment of the writer’s use of language.

3: Explore how writers create impressions and analyse effects of language, sentence types and structure.

4: To evaluate the use of stylistic features. How has the author used language and structure to enhance his descriptions?
What features has he used most? Why? How effective are these features?

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

5: To explain how mood and atmosphere is created using language and structure. Make links to other texts or genre conventions.

6: To explore and analyse how sentence structure can be used to affect meaning,

7: To explain how mood and atmosphere is created using language and structure.

8: Reflection and consolidation of key term, vocabulary and progress made.

Reading response assessment.

1: Greek roots of auto/bio/graph. Explore words containing those roots. Introduction to biography and autobiography. Exploration of how word meanings

change if used in different contexts.

2: Identify features in autos/bios. Appraise a text quickly, deciding on its value or usefulness.

Understand underlying themes, causes and points of view.

3: Understand how writers use different structures and narrative perspectives to create coherence & impact.

4: Study the features of various types of transactional writing depending on A/B/C scheme. Either letter, review, article. Analyse and evaluate effectiveness by assessing examples using specific criteria given.

5: Exploration of various examples and evaluate effectiveness. Analyse effective questioning techniques. Begin to conduct more research on chosen figure in order to construct your own piece of writing.

6: Shape & organise own text coherently.

Use different narrative techniques to engage and entertain the reader.

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

7: Assessment: Use paragraphs to achieve pace and emphasis. Revisit successful examples and evaluate own work.

8: Write own short biography of chosen person and present orally.

1. Shakespeare’s life and theatre. Doctor Who season 3 episode 2 (2007, starring David Tennant), “The Shakespeare Code”.

2. Genres of Shakespeare’s plays: comedies, tragedies, histories and (for Measure for Measure and The Tempest) problem plays.

3. Plot analysis of play: main themes, characters and setting.

4. Language and meaning: Shakespearean words and phrases.

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

5. Shakespearean structural features: sonnet, iambic pentameter and quatrains.

6.  The conventions of script-writing and to apply them in our own writing.

7. The relevance of Shakespeare to the modern world: study modern interpretations / performances.

8. Analyse and research the role of an actor.

1. Significant poetry examples and its use / purpose throughout history – oral histories, law and ancestral information.

2. Styles of poetry: study different examples – Haiku, limerick, sonnet, epic, narrative, blank verse and free verse.

3. Imagery and technique: analysing and writing metaphor, personification and simile poems.

Opportunities for Peer Assessment.

4. Themes and viewpoints: important messages to nonsense poems.

5. Structure and form: how they convey clarity on the message and meaning of the poem.

6. Rap: study and identify poetic devices, rhythm, pace and their purpose.

7. Poetry & the Visual Arts: influences and connection between poets and paintings.

8. Narrative poetry: turning a poem into a story.

Tier 2 vocabulary to be taught: Tier 2 vocabulary –  Term 1

compare

interpret

context

conflict

ambiguity

structure

imply

paragraph

illustrate

evaluate

Tier 2 vocabulary  – Term 2

appropriate

analyse

characteristic

justify

independent

simplify

society

conformity

portray

qualities

Tier 2 vocabulary  – Term 3

philosophy

correspond

research

implement

coordinate

generation

antagonist

principal

demonstrate

heritage

Vocabulary

= part of departmental termly list and Frayer model display

Tier 3 vocabulary:

dauntless

fearless

sagacious

wise

grotesque

bizarre

macabre 

tangible

decorum

gothic

exorcism

transformations

unreliable narrator

Industrial Revolution

British Empire

Unnatural

Tier 3 vocabulary:

tricolon (Rule of Three)

alliteration

assonance

assertion

statistics

repetition

emotive appeal

hyperbole

juxtaposition

metaphor

onomatopoeia

oxymoron

Tier 3 vocabulary:

dystopian

utopian

idyllic

harmonious

foreboding

unpleasant

foreshadowing

atmosphere

abnegation

erudite

candour

amity

technology

android

protagonist

Tier 3 vocabulary:

autobiography

biography

opinion

experiences

oppression

beliefs

ideology

influences

opposite

sincerity

humility

generation

communicate

philosophy

heritage

conscience

Tier 3 vocabulary:

foot / feet

quatrain

iambic

rhyming couplet

stanza

blank verse

split line

dramatic irony

bombast

you and thou

aside

soliloquy

monologue

tragedy

Tier 3 vocabulary:

allegory

ambiguity

anthropomorphism

Harlem Renaissance

Countryside bucolic

canon

carpe diem

Cockney School of Poets

Concrete poetry

didactic

doggerel / cliché

eclogue  / short

enjambment

objectivism

villanelle

Knowledge / Skills to be developed and enhanced

Adaptive learning by year target grade and expression

 Writing is clearly controlled & shows some originality. Content is clearly organised & purposefully shaped.

Some ambitious vocabulary & language devices.

 

Writing is mostly controlled, clear and has some detail.

Content is organised, has shape & direction.

Vocabulary is beginning to develop with some use of language devices.

 

Writing has some control, clearness & some content is relevant & sometimes clear.

There is some range of vocabulary.

 

Writing is sometimes controlled & clear.

Content is sometimes relevant with obvious ideas.

Use relevant words.

Shows consistent understanding of the purpose & secure awareness of the audience.

Content is well judged, detailed, shaped & convincingly developed.

Some ambitious vocabulary & language devices.

 

Shows a straightforward awareness of the purpose and some connection with the audience.

Content is relevant & sometimes clear.

There is some range of vocabulary.

Answer is focused on the task and shows some awareness of the audience.

Content is sometimes relevant.

Use relevant words

Comparison of two texts for a particular purpose.

Use critical analysis and show a perceptive understanding of the extract / text.

Use all your quotes / evidence effectively.

Analyse and evaluate language, structure and form.

Use a thoughtful approach and show a secure understanding of the extract / text.

You use most of your quotes / evidence effectively.

 

Analyse some language, structure and form.

Use a straightforward approach and show an understanding of key parts of the extract / text.

Use quotations / evidence.

Make some reference to the meanings and effects of language, form and structure.

Use some quotes / evidence.

Refer to a meaning or an effect created by language, form and structure.

Shows consistent understanding of the purpose & secure awareness of the audience.

Content is well judged, detailed, shaped & convincingly developed.

Some ambitious vocabulary & language devices.

 

Shows a straightforward awareness of the purpose and some connection with the audience.

Content is relevant & sometimes clear.

There is some range of vocabulary.

Answer is focused on the task and shows some awareness of the audience.

Content is sometimes relevant.

Use relevant words

Use critical analysis and show a perceptive understanding of the extract / text.

Use all your quotes / evidence effectively.

Analyse and evaluate language, structure and form.

Use a thoughtful approach and show a secure understanding of the extract / text.

You use most of your quotes / evidence effectively.

 

Analyse some language, structure and form.

Use a straightforward approach and show an understanding of key parts of the extract / text.

Use quotations / evidence.

Make some reference to the meanings and effects of language, form and structure.

Use some quotes / evidence.

Refer to a meaning or an effect created by language, form and structure.

Use critical analysis and show a perceptive understanding of the extract / text.

Use all your quotes / evidence effectively.

Analyse and evaluate language, structure and form.

Use a thoughtful approach and show a secure understanding of the extract / text.

You use most of your quotes / evidence effectively.

 

Analyse some language, structure and form.

Use a straightforward approach and show an understanding of key parts of the extract / text.

Use quotations / evidence.

Make some reference to the meanings and effects of language, form and structure.

Use some quotes / evidence.

Refer to a meaning or an effect created by language, form and structure.

Refer to historical context.

Rationale: This scheme is the foundation of students’ learning about literary techniques and storytelling, building on prior learning from KS2.

Students should be able to utilise their prior knowledge of heroic figures and villains and apply these concepts to Gothic characters and settings.

 

This unit is taught now because the characters and stories of the Gothic genre are engaging, unusual and intriguing. There are elements of peril and fear that relate directly to classic childhood stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood.

This scheme develops the students’ knowledge and understanding of how to form an effective argument. Students will learn about the structure of a speech that employs rhetoric and develop their use of persuasive techniques in their writing.

 

This unit is taught now because students are fully embedded in their English curriculum and this allows the development of their confidence in using language in powerful ways. This skill is a bedrock for all other English communication skills.

This scheme develops the students’ knowledge of canonical and modern writers who have contributed to this fascinating genre and allows them to explore why the genre has been and continues to be so popular.

 

This unit is taught now because it further develops students’ knowledge and understanding of how to analyse a text in detail and think carefully about how perspectives and viewpoints are conveyed in a text both visually and linguistically. Reading for deeper meanings, including the ability to read metaphor and symbolism, is a prerequisite for success in English and is taught here in a challenging yet accessible way.

This scheme develops the students’ knowledge and understanding of biographical work and they are introduced to effective techniques to write imaginatively and expressively.

 

This unit is taught now because students have already explored how writers create characters, mood and emotion in fictional characters and have the chance to apply these analytical skills looking at ‘real life writing’. They also get the opportunity to write about themselves, using these aforementioned skills.

This scheme develops the students’ knowledge and appreciation of a range of seminal works and offers a strong contrast with the previous half term’s learning. Students will study conventions of Shakespeare’s plays, exploring aspects such as character, theme, plot, language and structure that have been introduced during previous half terms.

 

This unit is taught now because the work of Shakespeare is challenging and our students are able to build upon their prior knowledge of gothic and dystopian texts.

Both Shakespeare and poetry are core texts at GCSE and this is a fitting introduction to the skills needed in the latter years of school.

This scheme concludes KS3 by ensuring students have been exposed to a selection of poetry to add to the prose work and variety of genres they have covered thus far.

 

This unit is taught now because poetry is core at GCSE and this is a fitting introduction to the skills needed in the latter years of school.

 
How Learning will take place / pedagogy

Learning will take place through well-structured, differentiated lessons delivered at an appropriate pace using challenge and assessment for learning. Engaging starters to provide social, cultural and educational opportunities for learning. Lessons are scaffolded to promote challenge and differentiation by outcome, as neither the English Language or English Literature terminal exams are tiered. All our Schemes of Learning provide modelling of reading and writing examples to develop appropriate exam-related skills.

 

How Learning will be assessed

Baseline Literacy M.O.T.

Levelled assessment each half term.

Use of DIRT marking to allow reflective learning.

 

Literacy and Numeracy Statement of Intent

 

Following Whole School Literacy Policy as displayed in all classrooms and:

 

  • Use capital letters and full-stops correctly.
  • Use commas and apostrophes correctly.
  • Spell regular words correctly.
  • Use homophones correctly.
  • Use a wider range of vocabulary.
  • Use semi colons and colons.
  • Use clear sentences.

 

 

SMSC Statement

Social: Speaking and Listening formal tasks and presentations, along with group discussions on a wide range of topics.

Moral: Through topical issues such as: discrimination, mental health and sexism.

Cultural: Through Poetry from Other Cultures, History of the English Language and various texts of fiction and non-fiction.

Spiritual: A sense of wonder in the diversity of linguistics, literature and a love of learning.

 

Evaluation at end of academic year

Flight paths in the cover of exercise books as well as SIMS Tracking System and regular subject data analysis.

 

KS4 English Curriculum Overview

GCSE

English Language & Literature

Autumn Term 1 Autumn

Term 2

Spring Term

1

Spring Term 2 Summer Term 1 Summer Term 2
Topics to be covered:

 

 

 

Year 10

 

 

 

 

Language Component 1 (20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Writing Prose)

 

 

Language Component 2 (19th and 21st Century Non Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing)

 

Study Text: A Christmas Carol

 

Language Component 1 (20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Writing Prose)

 

Study Text: The Woman in Black and/or and various texts to go with exam prep

Language Component 2 (19th and 21st Century Non Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing)

 

Optional Study Text:  The Book Thief

 

Language Component 1 (20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Writing Prose)

 

Language Component 2 (19th and 21st Century Non Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing)

 

 

Assessment Focus Reading Question and Transactional Writing Reading Question and Creative Writing Reading Question and Transactional Writing Reading Question and Persuasive Writing Creative Writing

 

Terminal exam

 

Topics to be covered

 

 

 

Year 11

 

 

 

 

 

Macbeth

Reading Skills

Writing Skills

Language Component 2 (19th and 21st Century Non Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing)

 

Reading Skills

Writing Skills

Functional Skills

A Christmas Carol

Poetry Anthology

(one poem per week)

 

 

Lord of the Flies

Poetry Anthology

(one poem per week)

 

Reading and Writing Skills

Revision of Literature texts

Poetry Anthology

(one poem per week)

 

Revision of Reading and Writing Skills (Creative and Transactional writing)

(Components 1 and 2)

Revision of Texts

Poetry revision

Terminal Exams
Assessment Focus Literature extract question and Transactional Writing Literature extract question and Creative Writing.

 

Poetry comparison response

Literature question on A Christmas Carol

Mock exams

 

Reading and Writing skills for exams

Literature extract exam practice

 

Unseen poetry response

GCSE Exams