English and English Literature 

Examination Board: AQA

Course: English Specification 8700 (English Language); 
                                                 8702 (English Literature)

Members of Department:  

    Mrs J. Farrow, Head of English
    Mrs S Watson, Second in English
    Miss E Love
    Miss T Goodwin
    Mr M Hardcastle
    Mrs C Schmidt
    Mr S Trevorrow
    Mrs G Wilkinson

VISION

We want all students to leave DHS having had the opportunity to read a broad range of canonical texts which will expose them to the best of what has been written, allowing them to read fluently and critically.  We also aim to broaden a student’s understanding of the wider world by introducing them to texts from a range of different cultural contexts thereby developing their empathy.  We believe that access to a high quality English curriculum is vital for a child’s success in life.  We will prepare students for adult life by enabling them to express themselves with confidence in both speech and writing

PROGRAMME OF STUDY

Each subject programme of study will:

• Provide a clear and coherent learning journey
• Foster subject-based understanding of new knowledge, concepts and methods
• Ensure students acquire knowledge and give opportunities for recall and application of this knowledge so that fluency is developed
• Require students to think and reason for themselves
• Explanations and resources enable students to engage with and master learning
• Learning should develop a depth of understanding that brings richness to the subject but also a breadth of understanding that enriches wider life and learning
• Develop a readiness for the next stage: be this the next lesson, the next unit of work, the next year or key stage; it prepares students for both academic, A Level, and future degree study, or vocational learning
• Contain appropriate, regular and robust assessment methods for measuring student progress and to allow intervention where progress is not as expected.

In order to see an overview of the sequence and progression of learning please see their Programme of Study:

  KS3 English Programme of Study

  GCSE English Programme of Study

KEY STAGE 3

In Years 7 and 8, pupils will study a range of texts including prose, poetry and plays. Each unit links with GCSE skills but retains focus on the age appropriate development of reading and writing, for which pupils will be assessed regularly using milestone assessments. In Year 9, pupils will all follow the programme of study outlined below. 

Year 7 Texts include:

• Autobiographical writing including extracts from ‘I am Malala’ and ‘Touching the Void’.
• Beowulf
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• A novel from another culture
• A selection of poetry

Year 7 Writing Tasks include:

• Autobiographical writing
• Newspaper report
• Descriptive writing

Year 8 Texts include:

• Lord of the Flies
• Stone Cold
• Oliver Twist
• Frankenstein- the Play

Year 8 Writing Tasks include:

• Analytical writing
• Narrative writing
• Letter to the Mayor of London
• Monologue

Year 9 programme of study

Unit 1- Animal Farm

Unit 2- Point of View writing

Unit 3- Macbeth

Unit 4- Poetry (taken from AQA ‘Power and Conflict’ GCSE cluster)

Unit 5- Spoken Language presentations

KS3 recommended reading

We recommend that all students read for pleasure at home and we encourage pupils to use our library to take out books of their choice. Pupils will also read this book during class time if the opportunity arises, so should always have it with them. If your child is unsure what to read they are welcome to consult their English teacher or our school librarian, Mrs Johnson.

KS3 vocabulary study

Due to the increasingly challenging nature of the texts given to pupils in the exams for English Language GCSE, it has become more important than ever for pupils to know and use a wide range of vocabulary. To that end, pupils in KS3 all take part in a specially designed vocabulary programme whereby each year group studies the same list of 10 words every 2 weeks at various points during their lessons. These words are reviewed, revised and then tested to make sure they have been learnt. The list of words for each year group can be found via a link from the homepage.

KEY STAGE 4

Students will now all study English Language and Literature jointly (2 GCSEs). There are no tiers so each pupil sits the same exams. The content of study for each GCSE is as follows: