Curriculum OverviewEnglish
Our English curriculum
KS3 English curriculum
Intent: To use the dual focus of examination feedback (KS2 Sats) and increasing maturity of pupils to create an interwoven curriculum eg the step up of Reading to Writing material from Year 7 to 8: Goodnight Mister Tom to Boy in the Striped Pyjamas to Gothic Genre, and Shakespeare: Yr 7: direct a scene, to Yr 9 write to actors with full analysis of keys scenes the evidence the choice.
KS2 Feedback has regularly mentioned ‘discombobulated’ writing; hence our focus on paragraph cohesion, crafting topic sentences, planning.
Adaptive teaching: the delivery of this has been focussed on improving Speaking and Listening skills, across all years.
English language and Literature are studied by all pupils at KS3 and KS4, with a healthy uptake of English Literature and Media Studies at A level in KS5.
The possibilities of literary analysis are driven by discussion of ‘stories’ and the dissection of ‘how they are told’, through particular focus on metaphor and irony, across time and genre.
The power of words is the foundation of language analysis and study, through a variety of Reading and Writing tasks. We believe in the Department that ‘good writers steal’ and we use the idea of a Reading to Writing Bridge to help pupils to do this.
The Department also believes in the power of teacher ‘modelling’ to help pupils to gain an insight in to the mind-set of good readers and writers. As a result this teaching technique is widely used at all key stages.
In addition, we believe that English should and does live beyond the classroom. As a result, opportunities are sought for pupils to enter writing and debating competitions, write for ‘real’ audiences eg Royal Shakespeare Company director, and to attend as many relevant theatre/cinema trips as is possible.
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half term 1 | Identity: Fiction texts: Boy and Good Night Mr Tom | Fiction text: Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas and Holocaust Literature Reading to Writing Bridge+ Writing to Describe | Fiction texts prose and poetry – Reading to Writing bridge Fear unit |
| Half term 2 | Reading to writing bridge established: Goodnight Mister Tom – Broadsheet newspapers; Boy – autobiographical writing | Victorian literature – ‘A Christmas Carol + AO3. Media focus: compare Stave 1 and Muppets version. | Gothic literature (a variety of extracts/short stories/’Woman in Black’) |
| Half term 3 | Non-fiction writing: leaflets; speech writing and delivering | Non-fiction writing: with a clear PoV Drama Unit | Shakespeare ‘Much Ado..’ Writing to specific actors recommending them for parts; HoD to send selection to Royal Shakespeare Company. Non-fiction writing |
| Half term 4 | Non-fiction writing: leaflets; speech writing and delivering | Non-fiction reading: linked to Reading Challenges/exam practice | Non-Fiction and Fiction reading: linked to Reading Challenges/exam practice ‘Curious Incident’/Of Mice and Men: Reading to Writing bridge = how to write a monologue = Writing to Narrate, and used to explored role of empathy in improving writing skills |
| Half term 5 | Exam Practice | Exam Practice | Exam Practice |
| Half term 6 | Exam Non-fiction writing: leaflets; speech writing and delivering | Non-fiction reading: linked to Reading Challenges/exam practice | GCSE – Poetry unit; 6 poems completed from AQA Anthology |
KS4 GCSE English Literature, GCSE English Language
Exam board: AQA
Course code: Language: 8700; Literature 8702
Examinations: P1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing; P2: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives; NEA: Spoken Language. P1 Literature: Shakespeare and the Nineteenth Century Novel; P2: Modern Texts and Poetry
Progression routes: English skills can help you to careers such as journalism, directing or film production, theatre, TV, acting, brand design and marketing.
| Year 10 | Year 11 | |
|---|---|---|
| Half term 1 | Complete AQA Poetry unit | ‘Macbeth’ |
| Half term 2 | Victorian literature – ‘A Christmas Carol’ | ‘Macbeth’ |
| Half term 3 | Non-fiction reading | Revision |
| Half term 4 | Fiction reading and writing | Revision |
| Half term 5 | ‘An Inspector Calls’ | Revision |
| Half term 6 | Non-Fiction Writing | Revision |
KS5 courses
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Updated | 7th May, 2025 |
Latest News
Catholic Schools Inspection
It is a pleasure to share with you the outcome of our recent Catholic School Inspection. It is a credit to the entire community – families, pupils, staff and our parishes – to be graded ‘Outstanding across all areas’. You can read the report here and an accompanying letter from Mr Simmons here.
Published: November 6, 2025
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