English and Languages

English

The English curriculum develops over five years and is sequenced to ensure a breadth of study and develop mastery through embracing a range of text types from across the ages, along with developing analytical, exploratory, critical and comparative skills. At the heart of our curriculum, we consider the ‘human condition’ and we are passionate about students seeing their past, present and future in texts to spark their ambition.

Year 7 begins with the study of Greek myths, most notably Homer’s Odyssey, an epic tale of the fall of Troy and Odysseus’ ten-year journey home; pupils will also be introduced to the art of rhetoric. It also introduces works from Shakespeare and his representation of the marginalised in society. Pupils complete the year delving into voices in poetry and prose.

Year 8 begins with Gothic fiction using The Woman in Black and other Gothic extracts to consider how writers convey societal fears. In the Spring term pupils will study Richard III to examine ambition and the writer's role in communicating morality. In the Summer term pupils study a modern novel written in verse, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, which builds upon the concepts in Richard III and propels these ideas into our contemporary world.

Year 9 begins with an exploration of 19th Century fiction from a range of authors including Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle building on gothic conventions explored in Year 8. In the Spring term pupils will experience war and conflict through literature including prose and poetry. In Summer term pupils will read a non-fiction text, I am Malala.

Year 10 marks the start of the two year GCSE curriculum, where pupils will study and master the texts required for GCSE Literature alongside developing, revising and practising GCSE English reading, writing and speaking skills.  Our set text studies include: Macbeth by William Shakespeare; A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley; and Power and Conflict Poetry.

In Year 11, pupils sit AQA GCSE English Literature and Language qualifications.

Year 7

Autumn 1

 

Homer – The Odyssey

What does it mean to be brave and resilient?

  • Family Relationships.
  • The human impact and consequences of war.
  • Honour and pride.
Autumn 2

Rhetoric

What does my voice sound like?

  • The formation of human identity through spoken word.
  • Exploration of contemporary issues.

Spring 1

Spring 2

An Introduction to Shakespearen plays and sonnets

How are the marginalised represented in society?

  • Inequality.
  • Prejudice.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Voices in poetry and prose

How do I empathise with the experience of others?

  • Love.
  • Relationships.
  • Pride.

Year 8

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Gothic fiction: The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and other extracts

Why are we afraid of the unknown?

  • Human fears.
  • Gothic conventions.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Shakespeare and ambition: Richard III

What are the consequences of my actions?

  • The depiction of evil in literature.
  • Morality.
  • Kingship.

Summer 1

Summer 2

The modern novel and descriptive writing: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Is revenge ever justified?

  • Social injustice.
  • An exploration of modern verse.

Year 9

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Short stories for the 19th Century

How can appearances be deceiving?

  • Revisiting gothic conventions in other texts.
  • The creation of tension and suspense in literature.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Voices from war and revolutions

What is the reality of conflict?

  • The human impact and consequence of War.
  • The human inevitability of death.
  • Inequality of power and conflicting voices.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Non-fiction reading and writing: I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

How do you be courageous in the face of adversity?

  •  Social injustice and conflict.
  • Strength in the face of adversity.

Year 10

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

A Christmas Carol

  • Responsibility.
  • Poverty.
  • Joy.

Language Paper 1

  • Skills and exam practice.
  • Reading - Section A.
  • Writing – Section B.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Macbeth

  • The duality of man.
  • The tragic hero.
  • The influence of the supernatural.

Language Paper 2

  • Skills and exam practice.
  • Reading - Section A.
  • Writing – Section B.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Power and Conflict Poetry

  • The power of nature.
  • The power of man.
  • The consequence of conflict.

Spoken Language

  • The art of rhetoric revisited.

Year 11

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

An Inspector Calls

  • Social injustice.
  • Responsibility.
  • Morality.

Unseen Poetry

  • The study of a range of poems.
  • Comparison of poems.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Revision

To supplement in class revision, we recommend York Notes AQA GCSE Literature and Language revision guides and using QuoteMaster to support the revision of key quotes.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Final Revision and Exam Preparation

Modern Foreign Languages

The Modern Foreign Languages curriculum aims to provide pupils with a rich core knowledge and build their ability to communicate effectively in a foreign language over the course of five years. 

The curriculum is structured in such a way to build core knowledge in pupils in Year 7, 8 & 9. It builds upon these foundations into GCSE study, starting from Year 10, mastering this knowledge ready for terminal exams.   

In Year 7, pupils learn to describe themselves and establish the basic groundings of common grammar and phonics. As pupils progress through the years, they learn a wider variety of vocabulary, introduced through a knowledge organiser and formed sentences, students are exposed to a variety of grammatical structures which supports them in becoming fluent linguists.  The foundations of language, verb structures and a range of tenses are covered repeatedly in the first few years of the course in order to secure this core knowledge, with topic-based vocabulary introduced in order to build pupils’ ability to converse on a range of topics.

In Year 11, pupils sit AQA GCSE language qualifications, mainly in French or Spanish.  Students also have opportunities to take qualifications in home based languages.

French

Year 7

Autumn 1 Je me présente
Meeting and greeting, Likes and dislikes. Numbers, Dates, ages and birthdays Describing yourself, your survival kit. Classroom objects, the alphabet, classroom instructions.

Autumn 2

Spring 1

En famille
Family, physical descriptions, characteristics, possessive articles, animals, Avoir and Etre – adjectives

Spring 2

Summer 1

Où j’habite
Where I live, describing your home, avoir and etre, saying what you can do in town, Nouns, habiter in present tense, il y a/ il n’y a pas de.
Summer 2 Mes passetemps
Free time, sports and activities.  Faire and Jouer.  What you like doing, describing what other people do. Describing future plans with friends, time.  Near future tense

Year 8

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Les Vacances
Countries, Holidays, holiday plans
Using past tense. Weather in the imperfect.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Mon identité

Avoir and être, Opinions on music and clothes. Talking about last weekend. Clothes and fashion, a recent trip out in perfect tense, music, French singers, cinema and TV.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Mon collège.
School subjects, describing timetable, school uniform, French school system, giving opinions and reasons and reasons. School rules. time, describe previous school trip

Year 9

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Qui suis-je
Family relationships, Describing friends, going out in town, describing weekend routine, talking about life when you were younger. Talking about role models.

Spring 1

Ma vie sociale d’ado
Describing social activities
Facebook, technology, describing life before technology, Music festivals

Spring 2

Summer 1

Le temps des loisirs
Sport and music, Cinema and TV Life online, books and culture, eating out.
Summer 2 Jours ordinaires, jours de fête
Daily life, food and culture, family celebrations, festivals and traditions. Traditions in other French speaking countries

Year 10

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

De la ville à la campagne
Describing a region, including how it used to be, discussing what to see and do.  Describing plans and weather.

Spring 1

Le mode de Vie
Personal information: Lifestyle healthy eating and exercise, at the doctor, alcohol and substance abuse.

Spring 2

Summer 1

Moi dans le monde
The environment, Rights and responsibilities, charity and voluntary work. Homelessness and poverty.
Summer 2 Le grand large
Holidays, Out and about: Visitor information, Local amenities, accommodation, basic weather. Personal information: Leisure activities, booking and reviewing hotels, ordering in a restaurant, talking about holiday disasters.

Year 11

Autumn 1 Le collège
School subjects and opinions, school rules, pressures at school, re-visit timetable and telling the time.

Autumn 2

Il faut bosser
Future plans, education and work: Work and work experience, simple job advertisements, applications and CV

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Revision
Summer 2  

 

Autumn 1 School subjects and opinions, school rules, pressures at school, re-visit timetable and telling the time.

Autumn 2

Future plans, education and work: Work and work experience, simple job advertisements, applications and CV

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Revision
Summer 2  

Spanish

Year 7

Autumn 1

Las introducciones

Meeting and greeting, Likes and dislikes. Numbers, Dates, ages and birthdays, tener. Describing yourself, your survival kit. Classroom objects, the alphabet, classroom instructions.

Autumn 2

Spring 1

La familia

Family, physical descriptions, characteristics, possessive articles, animals,

Ser and estar – adjectives

Spring 2

Summer 1

Dónde vivo

Where I live, describing your home, ser and estar, saying what you can do in town, Nouns, vivir in present tense, hay/no hay/tiene.
Summer 2

Mis pasatiempos

Free time, sports and activities.  Hacer and Jugar.  What you like doing, describing what other people do. Describing future plans with friends, time.  Near future tense.

Year 8

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Las vacaciones

Countries, Holidays, holiday plans,

Using past tense. Weather in the imperfect.

Spring 1

Spring 2

Mi identidad

Ser, estar and tener, Opinions on music and clothes. Talking about last weekend. Clothes and fashion, a recent trip out in preterite tense, music, Hispanic singers, cinema and TV.

Summer 1

Summer 2

Mi colegio.

School subjects, describing timetable, school uniform, Spanish school system, giving opinions and reasons and reasons. School rules. time, describe previous school trip

Year 9

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Sobre mi

Family relationships, Describing friends, going out in town, describing weekend routine, talking about life when you were younger. Talking about role models.

Spring 1

Mi vida social

Describing social activities

Facebook, technology, describing life before technology, Music festivals

Spring 2

Summer 1

El tiempo libre

Sport and music, Cinema and TV Life online, books and culture, eating out.

Summer 2

Días normales y días de fiesta,

 Daily life, food and culture, family celebrations, festivals and traditions. Traditions in other French speaking countries

Year 10

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

De la ciudad al campo

Describing a region, including how it used to be, discussing what to see and do.  Describing plans and weather.

Spring 1

La vida

Personal information: Lifestyle healthy eating and exercise, at the doctor, alcohol and substance abuse.

Spring 2

Summer 1

Mi mundo

The environment, Rights and responsibilities, charity and voluntary work. Homelessness and poverty.
Summer 2

Soy turista

Holidays, Out and about: Visitor information /Local amenities/ Accommodation/ Basic weather. Personal information: Leisure activities, booking and reviewing hotels, ordering in a restaurant, talking about holiday disasters.

Year 11

Autumn 1 School subjects and opinions, school rules, pressures at school, re-visit timetable and telling the time.

Autumn 2

Future plans, education and work: Work and work experience, simple job advertisements, applications and CV

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Revision
Summer 2