Catholicism in English

Thought for the Term

“Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

English Focus: Sacrifice in stories and our lives

This term, we have been exploring ideas surrounding sacrifice, especially as we approach the season of Lent. In this jubilee year, it is important that we consider characters in stories who sacrifice things for the benefit of others. In class, we have been looking at Shakespeare plays in KS3, and have noticed this theme in several ways; in the Tempest, Prospero sacrifices his close relationship with his daughter so she can marry the man she loves. In Romeo and Juliet, they both sacrifice their safety so they can be together.

We then considered our own ideas about sacrifice, considering stories and characters where this theme was prevalent. We discussed Aslan’s sacrifice in The Chronicles of Narnia, and how he does it to benefit all others. We explored how Harry Potter is often willing to sacrifice his own safety to

support and help others, and how Coraline was willing to sacrifice her chance at the “perfect” life for love of her parents.

This Lent, we encourage you to consider what small sacrifices you can make to help make the world a better place!

English

Intent:

Our English department believes in fostering a love of literature through innovative, engaging teaching. We demand a high standard of work and behaviour from all our pupils, but believe in reward they will achieve outstanding results which will enable them to fulfill their potential both in higher education and their careers.

Our lessons are designed to encourage our learners through discussion, the teaching of engaging texts which stimulate interest and the developing of pupil’s vocabulary and ability to express themselves in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes. We explore poetry, contemporary and classic literature and also link to our sister subjects of Media and Film Studies through a wide-ranging curriculum at KS3 which celebrates diversity and increases a pupil’s knowledge and appreciation of the fact that every life matters. We encourage pupil’s creativity and independence, allowing them to become more resilient learners in preparation for the rigour of KS4.

Within English we use a variety of Assessment for Learning strategies to empower our pupils and ensure accelerated progress is made. Two of the most effective are half time targets and 'feeding forwards'.

Half time targets allow pupils to stop mid-way through a task and reflect on what they need to do in order to improve. This can either be self or peer assessed, and involves pupils using the lesson's WILFs to produce a target that is then re-assessed when the task is finished. Reflecting on a task at the mid-point means that our pupils in English are constantly reflecting on what they need to do in order to progress.

Feeding forward allows pupils to re-draft prior work and rectify any caveats that may have arisen. Pupils re-write one paragraph from previous work, implementing feedback from their teacher to improve it. This means as teachers we know that our feedback will be taken on board, and that the pupils will show this in their work instantly, accelerating progress and meaning similar errors will not occur again.

Implementation:

Key Stage 3 (Year 7-9)

Our KS3 curriculum is designed to provide optimum creativity for both pupil and teacher – books taught are from a list that has been curated from our own love of literature rather than just two of three texts or those that are not being taught at KS4 (like some schools). Pupils develop an ability to read and write a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, building a repertoire of skills to ready them for the rigour of KS4. These include whole novels (rather than extracts), Shakespeare, 19^th century Literature, Poetry, Articles, Pamphlets and other non-fiction texts as well as looking at more diverse approaches to English through multi-media and film. Our selection of texts champion the diversity that we have both within school and pupils’ wider social circles and improve their understanding of their place within the world and the experience of those from diverse backgrounds.

We encourage pupils to develop a more ambitious and sophisticated vocabulary and punctuation and use assessments which foreshadow the line of questioning they will encounter in KS4. The final KS3 assessment ascertains their ability in creative writing and comparing Power and Conflict Poetry, readying them for the more strenuous work of KS4.

Reading Lessons

All KS3 pupils have a reading lesson once per fortnight where they benefit from an extended amount of time to read their own book, and receive 1-2-1 reading support with their teachers. Pupils work on comprehension skills, vocabulary and predictions, whilst sets 4 and 5 work on the Accelerated Reader Programme.

These lessons aim to improve pupils’ reading ages, whilst also helping to foster a love for reading and helping pupils grow their own passions for reading. By making sure pupils are reading books best suited to their abilities and reading ages, there is a higher chance to improve overall literacy, so this focus drives our decision to enact these fortnightly focused lessons.

KS3 Intervention

For learners who find reading especially challenging, we offer additional intervention. This may take the form of an additional 1-2-1 reading session, catered to the individual pupil’s reading age, where they work on comprehension, key vocabulary and phonics, or this may be offered as part of the “Reading Mentors” scheme where pupils are assigned a KS4 buddy to offer them reading support every week.

We have seen great success from these intervention sessions, and continue to explore further options to benefit all learners, no matter their reading abilities of experience. Should your child have been chosen for this intervention, you will be notified by letter.

Key Stage 4 (Year 10 & 11)

Literature

The English Literature course in Yr 10 consists to two papers – Shakespeare & 19^th C and Modern Text & Poetry.

Paper 1 has 2 sections and is worth 40% of the pupil’s overall grade.

Paper 2 has 3 sections and is work 60% of the pupil’s overall grade.

Language

The English Language course in Yr 11 consists of two papers – Explorations in Creative Writing and Writing from Perspective.

Both papers consist of a Section A (answering four questions on sources provided) and a Section B (writing either creatively or about a particular perspective). These exams test pupil’s ability to infer, analyse structure and language, compare sources as well as their ability to write to different forms and audiences using a wide-ranging vocabulary and high level of spelling and grammatical accuracy.

Both these papers are weighted 50% in terms of the final GCSE grade.

This GCSE is taught through topic-based learning which covers a range of subjects that are pertinent to the experiences of society today such as Racism and Equality, Ethics of Science and Knife Crime.  Pupils are encouraged to look at fictional and non-fiction sources which explore, question and celebrate the experience of diverse people and how their lives have made an impact on the world that we know. This apporach builds cross curricular learning and strengthens pupils understanding of how the curriculum at St. Edmund's fits together to improve them as both a pupil and person.

Pupils go onto study a modern text in the spring term. The continue practising their English Language skills, while increasing their cultural capital.

 
All texts within the KS3 and KS4 curriculum overview with skills document under the 'Resources' section below are highlighted in blue to celebrate diversity and show pupils the importance of building a knowledge and understanding that every life matters.

English Department: Trips and Events

Within the English department, we run a range of trips for pupils to help broaden passion within the subject, develop subject knowledge in key areas and promote key skills for use in future English assessments and examinations. Some trips have proved very popular, so they are run repeatedly for pupils (where possible), and others are based on experiences when they arise for pupils.

Regularly run trips:

- Shakespeare production at the Globe Theatre (Year 10- Spring Term)

- Poetry Live! (Year 10- Spring Term)

- Young Journalists Workshop with The News Portsmouth (Year 8- Summer Term)

- Stratford Upon Avon English Residential (Years 7 and 8- Summer Term)

Regularly run events:

- Spelling Bee (All KS3 tutor groups involved with additional opportunities for high achievers- Spring and Summer Term)

- Catenian Speaking Competition (All year groups offered the chance to compete through the heats and live final – Spring Term)

- Pupil’s Poet Laureate (High Flyer pupils from year 7 offered the opportunity to refine poetry writing skills)

Extra English Curriculum

For pupils on the lilac pathway for GCSE, they are provided Extra English- an additional amount of lessons with an English teacher to refine and hone their skills and enable a confident set of exams to

ensure the best progress and options for their future. The lessons aim to help pupils become “experts” in key skills for their examinations. In year 10, having a focus on the 15 Power and Conflict poems as well as Unseen Poetry followed by in depth revision of key set texts. In year 11, enabling repeated focus on key questions to help pupils become masters of these individual skills including creative writing, language and structure analysis and evaluation.