English

GCSE Support

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Curriculum Information

ENGLISH AND LITERACY IN KEY STAGE 3

All students will follow the National Curriculum for English and the schemes of work developed by the English Department to ensure all students can develop the language in an interesting and enriching context. This involves integrating the new government initiatives for improving literacy skills. This will give continuity from Y6 to Y7. Our teaching of English will follow some of the methods of the primary literacy hour by using the Word, Sentence and Text level approach. This will include a range of lesson starters to help improve spelling and grammar. Other subjects will also focus on developing literacy skills in order to raise standards.

Reading

Students will be expected to read a range of texts. This will include a class novel which is shared and discussed in order to understand the author's craft and to help develop students understanding and enjoyment of Literature. There will be focused study on poetry, plays, non-fiction and media texts. There will also be opportunities for shared and independent reading.

Writing

Students will need to extend and develop their range of writing styles. In order to engage and motivate students to write well there will be opportunities to produce project booklets and write for a real audience. Some examples are as follows: Surviving on an Island with the focus on non fiction styles of factual explanations, recounts through diary writing and Newspaper reports; Scripting a play; a bilingual story book for younger children.

Speaking and Listening

Speaking is an essential skill to develop and students will have opportunities through group work, presentations and drama activities. Although there are no separate drama lessons at present the English Department will strive to develop these and we plan to have theatre groups visiting the school and a series of drama workshops.

How parents can help

In order to support students in their reading we would like parents to ensure their son/daughter has their own private reading book which they should bring to school everyday. Being a member of a local public library is useful so that students can borrow a range of books. The English Department will keep a record of student's independent reading and Bronze, Silver and Gold Certificates will be awarded to those who read widely. Please encourage your child to show and share their reading and writing work with you. Advise them on ideas and support their checking of work. In order to develop vocabulary and spelling it helps to have a good dictionary at home and for students to buy a mini one to carry in their school bags. In the school diary there is a spelling section for students to write down words they need to learn. Encourage the use of this.

Homework

This will be set twice a week. One homework will be for reading and the other for planning, writing, and research or consolidating word and sentence level skills. Most work will be based on work started in class and students should have the skills and ideas to complete the work independently.

Assessing progress

All English work will be marked according to the school system with effort and attainment progress made. Some work will be given National Curriculum levels in order to help students understand how they are working against nationally agreed levels. Nationally most students will be working within level 4 and towards levels in Y7 and Y9. An explanation of the levels will be in the student's exercise books.

Reminder

On the induction day for Y6 students were set some writing activities on their last term at Junior School. This is to be completed over the holidays and brought in to their first English lesson. They can also bring in some examples of their best-written work from Y6.

ENGLISH AND LITERACY IN KEY STAGE 4

The emphasis in the examination is very much on the need for students to develop skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing (both in a creative and practical context). They will be required to produce a wide range of work demonstrating their grasp of these skills, in line with the new examination regulations.

Coursework

The course work element in the two subjects is as follows:

English 20% oral, 20% written
English Literature 30%

Examination

At the end of both courses, students will be entered for written examinations as follows:

English	60% (Two examination papers)
English Literature	70% (One examination paper)
and nbsp;	and nbsp;
Higher tier	Outcome grades A* - D
Foundation tier	Outcome grades C - G

A high qualification in GCSE English is essential for University or Higher Education courses.