English

Autobiography 

Students will study the forms and conventions of autobiographical writing, being able to recognise and analyse there use, as well as writing their own autobiographical extract. 

Oliver Twist - characterisation study. 

This is an introduction to Victorian context and impact of poverty. Exploration of characterisation, morality and the villainy of Bill Sikes. 

Short story writing 

Students will revise and secure their ability to Understand stories are well designed structures that can be broken into three parts – beginning, middle and end. 

Stories have four main components – place, time, character, and action 

Oliver Twist - characterisation study. 

Students develop understanding of how context can shape the meaning of a text, and how writer's use characters such as Oliver to convey a moral message. 

How do older texts influence modern writers? 

Students will explore how famous stories from literature , starting with Oliver Twist , have been adapted, updated and retold for modern audiences, analysing writer’s methods and ideas. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to understand that a story is a complete thing, link to Aristotelian components of a story and apply to the action/challenge/struggle in the plot. 

Midsummer Night's Dream 

Pupils will be introduced to Shakespearean context and understand how a Shakespearean audience would view a play. Students will explore how the love plot meets the conventions of a Shakespearean comedy. Explain why an audience would choose to view such plays, including rich and poor. 

Introduction to the genre of a Shakespearean comedy.  Students will write an opinion piece, arguing about the themes of the text. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to understand a successful ending reveals whether the main character has succeeded of failed. 

The story should resolve and the resolution should be short. 

Midsummer Night's Dream

Persuasive articles on theme of climate change.  

Persuasive writing 

Pupils engage with non fiction literature to identify the conventions of a persuasive article. They use this modal and success criteria to write their own. 

Short story writing and drafting 

Students will revise and secure their ability to scaffold work through drafting and redrafting of each section of their own story recalling and applying taught skills.

Poetry: Exploring imagery through poetry 

Students will be able to identify and comment on literary techniques which writers can use and analyse the impact of figurative language in poetry. Close focus on metaphor. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to identify temporal clauses and know how to use them for effect in writing. Consistently write in past tense and start to make stylistic choices to switch tense where it is appropriate in meeting the purpose. 

Poetry: Exploring imagery through poetry 

Develop academic written analysis which explores the writer's use of metaphor, using quotations accurately. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to use multiple subordinate clauses to add detail including temporal clauses for effect. Punctuate lists correctly including when they are within a complex sentence. 

Sherlock Holmes - short stories; characterisation. 

Students will develop knowledge of Victorian context from Y7 to include scientific developments and how this shaped reader interest. Explain how the use of logic and science in the Sherlock periodicals would engage an audience. Analyse how writers create meaning across several texts. 

Grammar & language 

Students will know how to demarcate sentences accurately to avoid fused or run on sentences. To know how and when to use a capital letter and apply with consistency. To know how to write in past simple tense consistently. This continues to build on the essentials established in Year7 and at KS2. 

Sherlock Holmes - short stories; characterisation. 

Students will explain, using textual evidence, how Sherlock is presented with a dual nature. Refer to a two or more stories to build analysis. This lays the foundations for textual comparisons in Year 10. 

Journalism and the media 

Student will study the forms and conventions of tabloid and broadsheet journalism, learning to analyse articles in these styles and write their own, using the conventions they have studied. 

Grammar & language lesson/week. 

Students will know how to add detail to a sentence using a subordinate clause and punctuate correctly. To know how to punctuate conjunctions and lists correctly. 

Romeo and Juliet - Characterisation and texts in context. 

Students will develop contextual understanding of Shakespearean tragedy. This also builds on the knowledge of genre from Year 7 and develops analysis of language and form, whilst feeding into the study of Macbeth at GCSE in Y10. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to how to punctuate and paragraph dialogue correctly. Know how to use personal pronouns clearly to maintain the clarity of extended writing. 

Romeo and Juliet - Characterisation and texts in context. 

Students will develop contextual understanding of Shakespearean tragedy. This also builds on the knowledge of genre from Year 7 and develops analysis of language and form, whilst feeding into the study of Macbeth at GCSE in Y10. 

Gothic genre & short stories

Pupils will understand that during the Victorian era the Gothic genre became popular. They learn the conventions for this genre and use a model to produce their own short gothic story. This links to Jane Eyre in Year 9 and Macbeth in Year 10 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students will revise and secure their ability to consistentlywrite in complete sentences apart from deliberate choices to use fragments stylistically when appropriate for the writing task. Know how to demarcate sentences accurately to avoid fused or run on sentences. 

Animal Farm - Allegory

Pupils revisit the form of a novel and idea of a moral message. They learn the features of an allegory and explain Animal Farm's allegorical message. This links to Y10 and the study of A Christmas Carol. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students revise and secure their ability to identify temporal clauses and know how to use them for effect in writing. Consistently write in past tense and start to make stylistic choices to switch tense where it is appropriate in meeting the purpose

Animal Farm 

Pupils analyse the development of plot and character to explain how the writer has conveyed an allegorical message. Plot and character builds on Y7 work across texts whilst writer’s purpose supports Jane Eyre in Year 9. 

Rhetoric 

Students watch and read and range of speeches. They use these examples and understanding of techniques to write and deliver their own. 

Grammar & language interventions 

Students revise and secure their ability to use multiple subordinate clauses to add detail including temporal clauses for effect. Punctuate lists correctly including when they are within a complex sentence. 

Jane Eyre - study of character, genre and form in novels. 

Pupils expand their knowledge of Victorian England to include rural England and explore perspectives on childhood and religion. They explore how a female writer used her novel to challenge these views on childhood and religion. 

1 Grammar & language lesson/week. 

Use paragraphs to develop narrative writing, for example to shift focus and/or tone. Know how to use possessive pronouns clearly and avoid common misconceptions. Cumulative skills build across the Key stage. 

Jane Eyre - study of character and form in novels. Pupils analyse the character development of Jane during her childhood and can explore modern and contemporary reader responses. They will analyse the impact of language and structural choices made by the writer in an academic essay. This takes skills from all texts in Years 7 and 8 and asks students to synthesise analytical skills. 

Dystopian fiction: narrative & descriptions. 

Pupils read and analyse short dystopian fiction and use these examples to write their own dystopian setting descriptions. This develops the idea of genre from Year 7 and 8 and prepares students for the study of Tragedy in Macbeth.

Small Island (Play Version) 

Pupils revisit the form of a play and are introduced to the conventions of a modern play. Pupils explore how plot, character, structure and language are used to convey themes. The introduction of modern drama introduces conventions and techniques revisited in Year 11 with An Inspector Calls 

Reading for Study; Students will read a range of Non-Fiction texts to explore viewpoint and perspective. 

Small Island (Play Version)

Pupils revisit the form of a play and are introduced to the conventions of a modern play. Pupils explore how plot, character, structure and language are used to convey themes. Ideas about Pathos are introduced, which recur in An Inspector Calls and Macbeth. 

Opinion writing: speeches & expressing a view

Pupils watch and read and range of speeches. They use these examples and understanding of techniques to write and deliver their own. 

Poetry: Journeys - Comparative skills. 

Pupils develop their analysis of language and structural techniques. This also connects back to the skills of analysing metaphor and imagery in Year 7 and forward to poetry analysis in Year 10. 

Grammar & language  

Reading for Study; read a range of Non-Fiction texts to explore viewpoint and perspective, setting up skills for both Year 10 and 11 analysis of nonfiction texts.

Poetry: Journeys - Comparative skills.

Pupils are able to make detailed comparisons between texts and learn how to write an analytical comparison in an essay; linking to Y10 and 11 academic essay writing.

Travel writing

Pupils are introduced to the genre of travel writing and use examples to write their own travel writing article. This is a precursor to the writing of articles in Year 10 and 11 and links back to the Year 8 journalism unit.

English Language 

Exploring Fiction: Students study how writers create meaning in extracts of fiction and writing about them in an academic style. They will study of an anthology of Fiction extracts on the theme of place. Building on Key Stage 3 skills we practice and elevate skills in: identifying features and techniques within a text 

• Analysing how and why language choices in fiction create an effect 

• Analysing how and why structural choices in fiction create an effect 

• Evaluating and arguing an interpretation of a text 

Literature 

An Inspector Calls. 

Exploring the earlier 20th C context of class, gender and the literary tradition of mystery and morality plays, drawing on Key Stage 3 work on Small Island. Exploration of how themes of inequality, social justice, generational divides and family are explored in the play. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, including symbolism and allusion, focusing on Act 3 and wider literature about the play. 

English Language 

Creative writing in fiction: Students develop their skills in using visual and verbal stimulus to create short , cohesive creative writing, both descriptive and narrative. This draws together skills from Year 7, 8 and 9 writing and focuses on planning and shaping writing. 

Skills that are revisited and expanded include: 

• Use of imagery and metaphor (linking to Y7) 

• Creation of character, setting, plot and atmosphere (linking to Year 7- 9) 

• Structuring an effective narrative arc (building on Y8-9 writing) 

• Writing in an accurate and ambitious form for a set audience and purpose (building on Y9’s reading for study) 

Literature 

An Inspector Calls. 

Exploring the earlier 20th C context of class, gender and the literary tradition of mystery and morality plays, drawing on Key Stage 3 work on Small Island. Exploration of how themes of inequality, social justice, generational divides and family are explored in the play. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, including symbolism and allusion, focusing on Act 3 and wider literature about the play.

English Language 

Exploring Viewpoints: This unit focuses on studying how writers express a point of view in non-fiction accounts and writing about them in an academic style. Study of an anthology of 19th and 20th century Non-Fiction extracts on the theme of journeys. 

The develops the Key stage 3 units of writing to argue and persuade, alongside theY9 reading for study unit. 

Building on Key Stage 3 skills we practice and elevate skills in: 

• Recognising true and false information in texts 

• Analysing how and why language choices in non-fiction create an effect 

• Synthesising information from multiple sources 

• Comparing how writer’s present attitudes and perspectives in texts 

Literature 

Macbeth. 

This unit focuses on re-evaluating Shakespearean context encountered in Year 7 and 8. Exploring the form of Tragedy, which links and builds on the study of Comedy in Y8. Exploration of how themes of guilt, violence, betrayal, kingship and gender are developed in the play. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, focusing dramatic terms such as soliloquies, asides and stagecraft which have been studied in Y7,8 and 9. Exploring how Shakespeare uses language form and structure to create meaning in Acts 1-2. 

English Language: Writing to argue and creating articles 

Students draw together skills from across KS3 writing to express a clear viewpoint in an article form. Revisiting and expanding the range of rhetorical techniques first introduced in Year 7. 

Concepts of LOGOS/ETHOS PATHOS build on the Literature Shakespeare units but shift to using this to create an effect for a specific form, audience and purpose. 

Structured argument, use of counterargument and anecdote are all developed as skills here, as is accurate and ambitious writing which uses rich vocabulary – a trend present in all KS3 writing units. 

Literature 

Macbeth. 

Re-evaluating Shakespearean context encountered in Year 7 and 8. Exploring the change in character and use of monologue first set up in Y9 Jane Eyre. Exploration of how themes of guilt, violence, betrayal, kingship and gender are developed in the play. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, focusing dramatic terms such as soliloquies, asides and stagecraft which have been studied in Y7,8 and 9. Exploring how Shakespeare uses language form and structure to create meaning in Acts 3-5.

English Language 

Expanding Viewpoints: This unit returns to studying how writers express a point of view in non-fiction accounts and writing about them in an academic style. This unit explicitly studies speeches from the 20th and 21st Century and draws on core skills from Y10’s spring units. 

The develops the Key stage 3 units of writing to argue and persuade, alongside theY9 reading for study unit. 

Building on Key Stage 3 skills we practice and elevate skills in: 

• Recognising true and false information in texts 

• Analysing how and why language choices in non-fiction create an effect 

• Synthesising information from multiple sources 

• Comparing how writer’s present attitudes and perspectives in texts 

Literature: Power and Conflict Poetry 

Study of 15 poems on the theme of power and conflict. Building on the introduction of poetry and metaphor in Year 7 and comparing poems in Year 9,. Students explore how language form and structure creates meaning in each poem and build on Year 11 comparative skills to compare the presentation of themes and ideas across texts.(Ozymandias – Percy Shelley, London – William Blake, Extract from, The Prelude – William Wordsworth, My Last Duchess – Robert Browning, The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred Lord Tennyson, Exposure – Wilfred Owen, Storm on the Island – Seamus Heaney, Bayonet Charge – Ted Hughes, Remains – Simon Armitage, Poppies – Jane Weir, War Photographer – Carol Ann Duffy, Tissue – Imtiaz Dharker, The Emigree – Carol Rumens, Checking Out Me History – John Agard, Kamikaze – Beatrice Garland) 

English Language 

Spoken Language NEA. This topic focuses on preparation of a short speech and discussion on a topic of students' choice, using the skills developed earlier in Y10 and through the persuasion and argument writing units of Y7 and 8. Core skills include rhetoric, spoken presentation and listening skills. This builds on the speech writing and delivery in Year 9 

Literature: Power and Conflict Poetry 

Study of 15 poems on the theme of power and conflict. Building on the introduction of poetry and metaphor in Year 7 and comparing poems in Year 9,. Students explore how language form and structure creates meaning in each poem and build on Year 11 comparative skills to compare the presentation of themes and ideas across texts. (Ozymandias – Percy Shelley, London – William Blake, Extract from, The Prelude – William Wordsworth, My Last Duchess – Robert Browning, The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred Lord Tennyson, Exposure – Wilfred Owen, Storm on the Island – Seamus Heaney, Bayonet Charge – Ted Hughes, Remains – Simon Armitage, Poppies – Jane Weir, War Photographer – Carol Ann Duffy, Tissue – Imtiaz Dharker, The Emigree – Carol Rumens, Checking Out Me History – John Agard, Kamikaze – Beatrice Garland)

Language Exploring Fiction 

• This unit focuses on revisiting and refining the core skills from Year 10, building the ability to analyse, evaluate and interpret ideas in short extracts of fiction, looking to explore how writer’s use methods and choices to create effect.  

Literature 

A Christmas Carol. This unit focuses on re-evaluating the Victorian context of poverty and the literary tradition of allegorical novellas, drawing on Key Stage 3 19th Century contexts from Year 7 and 8 and developing to an academic level 

This unit focuses on exploration of how themes of poverty, social justice, isolation, family and the supernatural are explored in the novella. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, focusing on staves 1-5. 

Language Creating Fiction 2 Fiction 

This unit focuses on revisit and refine the core skills from Year 10, which in turn built on principles of analysis across Key Stage 3, this time seeking to differentiate styles of descriptive and narrative writing. Core skills: Imagery and extended metaphor/conceit Accurate and ambitious vocabulary Textual cohesion Cyclical structure 

Literature 

A Christmas Carol. This unit focuses on re-evaluating the Victorian context of poverty and the literary tradition of allegorical novellas, drawing on Key Stage 3 19th Century contexts from Year 7 and 8 and developing to an academic level 

Exploration of how themes of poverty, social justice, isolation, family and the supernatural are explored in the novella. Linking and explaining how a writer’s purpose informs their methods, focusing on staves 1-5. 

Language – securing and revising skills for non-fiction 

Students will revisit writing non-fiction texts, refining their skills in writing to argue and persuade across a range of text types, including letters, articles, speeches and reflective pieces. 

From this point in Year 11 the same topics are studied as in Year 10, but at a faster pace to ensure there is plenty of time for revision during half term 5 to prepare for the exams at the end of the year. There is a continued aim of ensuring a core bank of skills can be adapted to a range of questions. 

Literature 

Unseen poetry Students revisit the skills gained in Years 7, 9 and 10 to analyse how language form and structure are created in unseen poems. Use of comparison skills from Y10 to structure a comparison of poetic methods in previously unseen material. 

Students also revisit and revise the Power and Conflict poetry from Y10, improving their ability to structure comparative essays based on November Mock performance. Exploration of how writers from different traditions (Romantic, Modernist, Spoken Word, Contemporary) present ideas about Conflict. 

Language 

Analysing language, comparing viewpoints and synthesising ideas from thematically linked nonfiction texts. 

The same skills are studied as in Year 10, but at a faster pace to ensure there is plenty of time for revision during half term 5 to prepare for the exams at the end of the year. 

There is a continued aim of ensuring a core bank of skills can be adapted to a range of questions. 

Literature 

Revision of themes and concepts across Macbeth, An Inspector Calls and A Christmas Carol, focusing on writer’s purpose and the creation of clear academic lines of argument for a range of ideas. 

The same skills are studied as in Year 10, but at a faster pace to ensure there is plenty of time for revision during half term 5 to prepare for the exams at the end of the year. 

There is a continued aim of ensuring a core bank of skills can be adapted to a range of questions.

Language and Literature: Revision and preparation for GCSE Examinations

In this half term, the focus shifts to revision, to ensure that students are fully prepared for their GCSE exams. Students complete weekly mini assessments which their teachers mark and give feedback of areas of strength and areas which need more focus.

These areas are then targeted through revision lessons as well as intervention to ensure that students become more confident and able to tackle examination-style questions.