KS3 Year 7

Autumn

Descriptive Writing and Oliver Twist 

Pupils are introduced to life in Victorian London through the text ‘Oliver Twist’ the form of a novel. They will explore the themes of morality through the key characters this classic text and consider the form of a novel.  To support their skills in Writing Mastery, they will also look at a variety of short stories and consider the key ingredients needed for effective story telling.  

Spring

Shakespeare:  A Midsummer Night's Dream

Pupils will consider life in Elizabethan England and how this compares to other traditions, such as the Greeks in Ancient Athens through their study of William Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. They will delve in to Shakespearean life and how Elizabethan relationships and families are considered. Pupils will begin to use their analytical skills and consider key concepts and themes in the text to explore the dramatist’s choices.

The development of their Writing Mastery will continue with creating coherent short stories.

Summer

Summer 1

Poetry and Allegory:  A selection of heritage and modern poems.

A selection of non-fiction texts - English Language

Pupils will study various poetic forms and linguistic poetic devices through the study of a variety of poems.   They will continue their development of their analytical skills using analytical sentences to explore how writer’s choices of poetic language create meaning.  During this term, pupils will also learn to navigate a selection of non-fiction texts from 19th Century , 20th Century and 21st Century. 

Writing a full story will be the next step for Writing Mastery, including applying knowledge on planning, drafting and editing their work.

Summer 2

Ancient Tales: short stories

Pupils will question what Ancient Tales are and look in to the oral story tradition and morality tales. Tales include ‘The Cheetah’s Whisker’; ‘Hansel and Gretel’; ‘Two Dinners’; ‘The Giant’s Causeway’; ‘The Wicked King’; ‘1001 Nights’.  Their analytical skills will move to using analytical sentences to explore how writers’ structural choices in short stories create meaning.  Pupils will also work on an Oracy unit, considering how to re-tell a story clearly and fluently, choosing appropriate vocabulary, facial and tonal expression, gesture and posture.

KS3 Year 8

Autumn

Descriptive Writing and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Pupils begin this year by consolidating their Year 7 learning.  They will develop knowledge of structural and language skills for writing- in readiness for GCSE English.  They will then move to exploring Conan Doyle’s stories looking at the scientific developments in the Victorian era; class and society in Victorian England; and the detective genre. They will also explore the theme of duality.  They will be using complex topic sentences to explore character and using analytical sentences to explore meanings. They will also work on using sentences to link ideas from one paragraph to another.

Spring

Shakespeare: The Tempest

A selection of non-fiction texts - English Language

Studying Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’  will allow the pupil to consider the Elizabethan age of exploration and colonialism. They will explore themes such as nature vs nurture and the form of a comedy;

During this term, pupils will also further develop their skills in analysing and producing non fictions texts using a selection of non-fiction texts from 19th Century , 20th Century and 21st Century.

They will be using complex topic sentences as a Writing Mastery focus to explore character and theme using accurate dramatic terminology.

Summer

Summer 1

Animal Farm

Through the novel ‘Animal Farm’ pupils will explore allegories and allegorical writing. They will also consider Orwell’s life and times and how this impacted his novella commenting on the Russian Revolution and consider authorial intent.

To analyse the texts they will be using complex topic sentences as a focus in their Writing Mastery to explore themes & concepts; selecting and embedding quotations; using analytical sentences to explore how writer’s choices create meaning and linking textual analysis to contextual analysis

Summer 2

Rhetoric

Inspired by the themes of ‘Animal Farm’ pupils will write and perform a structured speech about a power imbalance that they feel strongly about. To ensure they can do this confidently they will spend time studying the art of rhetoric through Aristotle’s ideas of ethos, logos, pathos. As  well as the discourse of rhetoric in Renaissance and Shakespearean texts. Pupils will learn how to write for performance and impact. They will be applying the Writing Mastery sentence knowledge of using sentence variety for impact in a performed speech and the effect of writing using ethos, logos and pathos.

KS4 Year 9

Autumn

Jane Eyre

Bronte’s writing will introduce the pupils to the Victorian attitudes to children and childhood and the themes of rural isolation.

To develop their analytical skills and Writing Mastery pupils will learn how to introduce and sustain a thesis across a whole essay; planning & developing; write introductions; and use analytical sentences to explore alternative meanings.

Spring

Small Island

Pupils will study the play of the ‘Small Island’ allowing them to learn about The Windrush and colonialism Brittan and how this has helped shaped our and multi-cultural society. They will learn about modern dramatic conventions, such as character development and monologues; foreshadowing; the form of a tragedy and the  tragic character. Pupils will be analysing structure through a whole text through exploring:

Characterisation, alternative interpretations and context of production or reception.

Summer

Summer 1

Poetry

The theme of ‘Journeys’ will guide the pupils through a variety of poems focusing on extended metaphors and epic poetry. Poems will include in full form or as extracts: ‘Paradise Lost’, ‘The Road Not Taken’, ‘Night Mail’,  and ‘The Canterbury Tales’. Poets include John Milton, Geoffrey Chaucer, Patience Agbabi, W.H. Auden, Grace Nichols, Jackie Kay

Pupils will be beginning to use comparative topic sentences within Writing Mastery for poetry comparison and exploring their own and alternative interpretations.

Summer 2

Reading for Study

Reading and studying a variety of non-fiction extracts from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century pupils will be looking towards their GCSE studies and using the extracts as models to plan and structure their own writing. They will write letters, articles, speeches, and essays. This is a transitional language unit into KS4. Their analytical writing and Writing Mastery will continue with writing an introduction, thesis and argument, but also including a counter- argument.

KS4 Year 10: 

Here at Purbrook Park we follow the AQA English Language and English Literature programmes of study.  Pupils will interleave comprehension, inference, analysis, evaluation and Reading skills – focusing on heritage (16^th Century Shakespeare and 19^th Century prose) as well as 20^th Century prose and drama scripts; along side this, pupils are taught to plan, structure and write narrative and description – to meet the English Language challenges; pupils are taught to plan, structure and write persuasive texts, again to meet the requirements of English Language Literary non-fiction challenges; pupils will also be taught to write information and persuasive texts, both for examination and for Speaking and Listening assessment.

Autumn

They will also explore Paper 1 of the AQA English Language Exam.

Modern Drama or Prose

Spring

19th Century novel English Literature Paper 1.

English Language Paper 1. 

Summer

Shakespeare and Creative Writing: Literature and Language:

KS4 Year 11

Autumn

Pupils prepare for GCSE Mock Exams.  They will also develop their understanding of creative fiction, evaluation and summary.

 English Literature Paper 2:  Pupils will revise the Power and Conflict cluster of poetry.

Spring

Pupils will explore English Language Papers 1 & 2 and will develop their understanding of the Modern texts section of the exam, as well as revisiting the 19th Century novel. They will look at how writers convey their thoughts and feelings through different methods.

Summer

Pupils will revise for their exams.