Aim

• Encourage a passion for reading and writing creatively
• Introduce and develop key skills
• Prepare students for GCSE style exams
• Introduce students to a variety of texts
• Develop students’ understanding of the authors’ methods

Topics covered

In each year, students will:

• Study a modern text
• Study a Shakespeare play
• Examine 19th Century fiction and non-fiction
• Study poetry
• Develop their writing skills
• Examine unseen texts
• Write and deliver presentations to the class (spoken language)

Here is a list of some of the texts that we study each year. Texts are selected by the class teacher:

• Stone Cold Robert Swindells
• Private Peaceful Michael Morpurgo
• Unique Alison Allen-Gray
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
• Macbeth William Shakespeare
• Frankenstein Philip Pullman

Teaching groups

Students are still taught in mixed ability groups. However, these groups change from year to year. Apart from a small group, students are never set in English.

Assessment

Students complete assessments at the end of each half-term. These are based on the new GCSE exams. All students are given a Paper 1 style exam at the end of the year. This is based on the GCSE paper in which they read a piece of unseen fiction. They then have four reading questions, followed by a writing task.

How to support at home

• Encourage students to read a variety of texts
• Read with your child
• Encourage students to check all of their written work