Exercise book
Pen
Ruler
Private reading book
Units of Work: The units will not necessarily be followed in this order |
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Half term |
Course Content: Knowledge and Skills |
Assessment : Key pieces and dates |
1 |
Myths and Legends— pupils will read and be taught several myths from a range of cultures, including Greek and Egyptian. Using these texts for inspiration, pupils will work towards producing a piece of work where they write their own journey to the underworld. |
Pupils will produce a piece of work where they write their own journey to the underworld. In addition to the writing of this journey, during the first half term pupils undertake a spelling and a reading test. |
2 |
Island Project – pupils create a design for their own island and produce a range of pieces of non-fiction writing for different audiences and purposes. |
Pupils produce three pieces of assessed writing: a brochure page advertising their island; an encyclopaedia page giving information about their island; and a travel piece, describing their island. |
3 |
Novel – pupils will read and study a novel as a class, developing close reading, inference and analytical skills. The novel to be studied will vary according to teacher and group. Following this unit, pupils may pursue independent study of a related text, forming “book clubs” and leading to presentations. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis. Often this will be an essay, completed under exam conditions. |
4 |
Media and Non-Fiction – pupils will study techniques used in advertising, looking at print-based and moving image adverts. They will also create their own marketing campaign. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis of adverts. Often this will be an essay. There will also be opportunities to assess their speaking and listening in groups and when giving presentations. |
5 |
Poetry unit— pupils will explore a range of different medieval narrative poems, including Beowulf, Chaucer and Gawain. |
Pupils will develop and be assessed on analytical responses to poems; this may take the form of an essay. |
6 |
Play unit— pupils will study a play text, exploring it through both analysis and performance. |
Various speaking and listening tasks will be undertaken and assessed. |
Grouping
Pupils are initially taught in tutor groups and after the early weeks are organised into ability groupings based on data collected, KS2 information from the primary schools and teacher assessment. Groups follow the same broad curriculum and work is differentiated by teachers to suit each teaching group’s learning needs.
Homework Information
Homework will be set according to the unit being taught. This will average around 30 minutes per week for most pupils. It is also expected that pupils will read for at least twenty minutes five times per week.
Extended Study Information
Private reading – pupils should try to read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. Reading ladders are available on different genres and can be located in the pupil planner. Due to the hugely varying nature of reading for pleasure we don’t have a general reading list, but for suggestions for your child please contact the College and ask to talk to Mrs Payne, the Librarian.
Independent reading study—following their study of a class novel, pupils can choose a related novel to read themselves, discussing it in “book groups” and presenting their opinions of it.
Spellings – pupils will be given spellings to learn fortnightly. They should also endeavour to learn the spelling mistakes highlighted by teachers in marked written work.
Units of Work: The units will not necessarily be followed in this order |
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Half term |
Course Content: Knowledge and Skills |
Assessment : Key pieces and dates |
1 |
Novel – pupils will read and study a novel as a class, developing close reading, inference and analytical skills. The novel to be studied will depend on teacher preference. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis. Often this will be an essay completed under exam conditions. |
2 |
The News— pupils will study the way that the news is communicated in print, broadcast and online formats. |
Pupils will produce newspaper articles for assessment, with opportunities to assess speaking and listening in their group work and presentation of a news broadcast. |
3 |
The Arrival— pupils will study a graphic novel, learning to decode this type of text and using it as a platform for imaginative writing and debate. |
Pupils’ creative writing will be assessed. |
4 |
Poetry – pupils will study poetry from a range of cultures/literary periods examining the ideas explored and techniques used. They may also have opportunities to write and perform their own poetry. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis. Often this will be an essay completed under exam conditions. |
5 |
Genre unit – this unit allows pupils to explore and produce writing in a variety of genres. |
Pupils’ writing will be assessed. |
6 |
Pupils will study a play text; for the majority this will be by Shakespeare— either Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest or Romeo and Juliet. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis, with opportunities to assess speaking and listening in drama work. |
Grouping
Pupils will be placed into broad ability groupings based on data collected and work completed during Year 7.
Homework Information
Homework will be set according to the unit being taught.
Pupils will be set a list of spellings to learn fortnightly. It is expected that they will read for at least 20 minutes three times a week.
Extended Study Information
Private reading – pupils should try to read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. When studying a novel, pupils will be challenged to read a related text in order to be able to make comparisons.
Visits / Extra-Curricular opportunities
Globe Theatre trip (subject to availability)
Author visits
Creative Writing Club
Units of Work: The units will not necessarily be followed in this order |
||
Half term |
Course Content: Knowledge and Skills |
Assessment : Key pieces and dates |
1 |
Autobiography – following the study of autobiographical texts, pupils will complete a number of pieces of work which will be collated to form their own autobiography. |
A number of pieces of writing for different purposes (descriptive, informative, persuasive) will be completed for assessment.
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2 |
Novel – pupils will read and study a novel as a class, developing close reading, inference and analytical skills. The novel to be studied will be chosen according to the ability of the class. |
Assessment will take the form of a GCSE-style English Literature exam to be completed in test conditions during lesson time. |
3 |
Play — following the study of a play, pupils will further their knowledge of dramatic techniques before undertaking a critical exploration of the methods used by playwrights and the impact on the audience. |
Assessment will be in the form of a written essay.
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4 |
Global English—pupils will explore how and why English is used as a language for literature globally, examining a range of poems and short stories. |
Assessment will be in the form of written analysis. Often this will be an essay. |
5 and 6 |
KS4 begins: After Easter, pupils will begin work in preparation for GCSE English Language and Literature. |
GCSE-style exam conducted in exam conditions.
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Grouping
Pupils will continue in broad ability groupings based on data collected and work completed during Year 8. These may be revised as KS4 work begins.
Homework Information
Pupils will be given spellings to learn fortnightly, and reading targets will be set to encourage pupils to continue reading at home.
Extended Study Information
In Year 9 we will encourage pupils to develop independent research skills and organisational skills by undertaking an extended study project on a half-termly basis, to accompany the unit of work they are studying. They will have a choice of projects and can tailor their research and outcome according to their interests. We will provide a reading list to accompany each unit to enrich their study and their familiarity with a range of text types.
Visits / Extra-Curricular opportunities
The Woman in Black – theatre trip (subject to availability)
Carnegie Shadowing
Creative Writing club
Year 10 Course Content
Autumn term:
Modern Novel — either An Inspector Calls or Lord of the Flies.
English Language Paper 1 preparation.
Spring term:
Poetry study.
Summer term:
Shakespeare- Macbeth
Mock exams
Year 11 Course Content
Autumn term:
Revisiting Macbeth with a view to responding to exam questions.
English Language Paper 2 preparation.
Spring term:
Unseen Poetry.
19th Century Novel — either A Christmas Carol or Jekyll and Hyde
Mock Exams
Revision of all course context
Summer term:
Public Examinations.
Homework
Homework will be set to consolidate and extend understanding, and should be undertaken with care. Pupils should expect to spend at least an hour each week on this.
We also expect pupils to continue their reading for pleasure at home, as encountering literary fiction, quality journalism and other non-fiction texts will help hugely with their ability to access unseen texts.
Equipment
Pupils must have stationery including a highlighter. They must bring the correct exercise book for the unit studied. They must have a private reading book at all times, and their own copy of the study text.
Visits/Extra-curricular
If opportunities arise to attend school trips or attend examination sessions pupils should take full advantage.
We will seek to arrange visits from authors and other speakers throughout the Key Stage.
Extended Learning
There will be resource lists available for each unit of work, which will be available on CambourneLearn.