English

Our curriculum aim is to promote resilient and curious students, who can achieve consistent improvement by being challenged in a stable and safe learning environment. Underpinning our curriculum is a belief that English fosters a rich and varied awareness of the world and of the people in it; as students move through the school our curriculum seeks to develop this awareness and provide them with an opportunity to question and engage with the society and environment around them. Through development of students’ knowledge, we aim to empower young people personally and academically. Our goal is to cultivate a strong sense of self-efficacy in our students, through their study of English, so they can leave school with optimism, aspiration and a conviction that they can make a difference in the wider world.

Key Stage 3

The English Department at Academy@Worden is dedicated to fostering a love of English in our students.

Students are taught to understand and look for enjoyment of their studies of English. Therefore, our units of work have been carefully crafted to ensure an exciting, knowledge rich approach to teaching alongside the careful and granular teaching of skills.

The GCSE examinations at the end of Key Stage 4 are just one of our end points; we wish to encourage students to discover more about themselves and the world through examining various important works of Literature and recognise and appreciate the wonders of a good book.

As well as seminal Literature and classics, students will be exposed to a range of cultural poetry, great speeches and critical theory.

We endeavour to ensure that our students leave Academy@Worden with a love of English and a desire to study it further.

Year 7

• Villains from the Literary Canon
• Boy 87 by Ele Fountain
• Oliver Twist and Romantic Poetry
• The Tempest, by William Shakespeare
• Creative and Transactional Writing

Year 8

• 'A Midsummer's Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare
• Gothic Literature
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• War Poetry
• Creative and Transactional Writing

Year 9

• Non-Fiction Extracts
• Narrative Writing
• Love Poetry Anthology
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley
• Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Key Stage 4

At Key Stage 4, our students study to take the Eduqas examinations in both Language and Literature; through the course they will develop strong analytical and writing skills, and deepen their knowledge retained from Key Stage 3.  However, we are also keen that students continue to develop in line with our intent; in this respect, we have designed lessons to facilitate debate, discovery and enrich students' understanding of the wide range of issues encountered within English.

English Language

• Component 1: 20th Century Fiction Reading and Descriptive/Narrative writing

• Component 2: 19th/21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Non-Fiction writing

English Literature

• Component 1: Romeo and Juliet and Poetry Anthology 

• Component 2: Blood Brothers, A Christmas Carol and Unseen Poetry 

Spoken Language Assessment (graded separately).

GCSE English Language - Eduqas - BBC Bitesize

GCSE English Literature - Eduqas - BBC Bitesize        

KS3 English - BBC Bitesize

Shakespeare Learning Zone | Royal Shakespeare Company (rsc.org.uk)

Resource (eduqas.co.uk)

Writing Mastery (arkcurriculumplus.org.uk)