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English
Vision:
To give all students an enriching 1000-day journey in English, which inspires and equips them for life – including an excellent GCSE performance – through a supported, challenging, team effort.
Our ideal student, by the conclusion of their journey with us, has the following attributes:
A thoughtful and reflective analyst of culture with a thirst for knowledge and a sense of how English connects to the world.
Personal reading habit well guided and supported throughout five years
Portfolio of work that the student is proud of – including real letters, articles and essays shared beyond their class
Engagement with real-world issues as a result of English studies, eg through Spoken Lang talk, or through a charity project linked to a text
Confident talking about/presenting texts/ideas in a variety of settings
Has presented/performed work to parents and other students at parents’ evening or other public setting
Knows GCSE texts intimately and is fully engaged via own annotated copies
Has creatively engaged with GCSE texts and context via an extended project/presentation
Has established a habit of independent revision/research; desire to self-improve work is evident
A full, well-organised folder of revision notes/cards with independent ‘ownership’
Confident use of a personal range of high-level vocab
Literacy issues regularly identified and practised by student and teacher
Our English ‘Essential Powers’ are:
Approach to English Curriculum: units, taught sequentially, alongside a bespoke literacy skills framework and personal reading support each week:
Units/Topics. Students undertake approximately one ‘Unit’ per half term: a study of a form of writing, or a literature text, or a particular genre or style. Reading and writing skills are taught simultaneously. A formal assessment draws together the key skills and elements of each Unit – with ‘active feedback’ given both before and after in order to ‘close the gaps’ in performance.
Literacy: Inspired Writing. In addition, literacy teaching is embedded via lessons of Inspired Writing. Key literacy aims are drawn from the students’ personal targets (their Writing Passport), and from the focus of the Focus Fortnight. An emphasis on fun, creative, inspiring writing is paramount – celebrated via each classroom’s Wall of Fame displays.