English –

Curriculum

Intent:

Our intent is to share our wealth of knowledge and experience, to imbue our students with a genuine passion for the study of language and literature and to teach them to explore how the subject reflects and captures the world around us.  In doing so, students will develop their skills in reading, writing and oracy and be able to communicate effectively for different purposes and audiences and in different contexts.

Our students will develop into critical and evaluative readers who are able to explore texts in detail and justify their ideas with accuracy and coherence.  They will mature into confident writers who are able to write with fluency, flair and sophistication.  They will also be able to use standard English to express complex ideas and engage in detailed discussions ranging from debates to presentations.

We will also provide students with a strong foundation of literacy skills which will enable them to access the wider curriculum across our school.  These skills will enable them to access the wide range of academic and vocational pathways leading to their future careers.  Additionally, we aim to allow all students to develop essential life skills and career aspirations that will allow for outstanding personal development and ensure they make a significant contribution to whole-school improvement and British/global society.

Implementation:

Our KS3 offer is fully compliant with the National Curriculum.  We are continually developing and refining a challenging and ambitious curriculum that enables students to acquire a broad range of skills, concepts and knowledge from the study of language and literature.  In doing so, we ensure that students have access to topics of contemporary relevance as well as traditional classical stimulus.

In delivering the curriculum, the English team will use a wide range of innovative and imaginative teaching and learning strategies to stimulate curiosity, discussion and reflection within our students.  The department also uses knowledge organisers, reading homework and promotes independent study to encourage our students to develop their knowledge and understanding of the wider curriculum beyond the classroom.

We use a wide range of interesting classical and contemporary literature texts to foster passion and enthusiasm in our students for the subject.  This enables them to understand and appreciate the profound impact of English Literature on the world around us.  We also use a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction language texts which enable students to make links with other curriculum areas and help them to understand the relevance of English and literacy in the local and wider communities.

The English curriculum is a challenging seven-year pathway that prepares and develops knowledge and skills requisite for success in GCSE and A-Level examinations.  It includes enrichment activities that allow all students a clear progression pathway between KS3 to KS5 and prepare them effectively for Post-18 career choices – in line with whole school CEIAG strategy.  In support of this, we implement regular formative and summative assessment tasks to ensure that students understand their learning and we intervene to ensure that no child is left behind.  Assessments at all key stages reflect the content delivered in schemes of learning and ensure that progress is measured, continual and scaffolded effectively.

Impact:

We strive to deliver a curriculum that allows our students to make outstanding progress relative to their starting points on entry to Rainford.  We believe that the English curriculum will enhance our students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject, thereby enabling them to achieve high standards of progress and attainment in their GCSE and A-Level examinations.

Students will leave the English department with strong literacy skills in reading, writing and oracy that will equip them for further education and employment.  They will successfully use their knowledge and experience of the curriculum to develop social skills in empathy and compassion and mature into responsible young adults that make effective and worthwhile contributions to the local and wider communities.  All students will progress to the next stage of their education with the personal development, life-skills and careers guidance that make them employable within a global economy and will allow them to make a significant contribution to British and Global society; this is in line with whole school Personal Development and CEIAG strategies and the whole-school ethos.  Indeed, once our Alumni students have embarked on university or apprenticeship courses, we want them to realise that they have gained a ‘head start’ in comparison to their peers and look back with great pride on their experiences within English at Rainford High.

Facilities:

The English Department is located in the East Block of the school and boasts nine generously sized classrooms.  Each classroom contains an interactive whiteboard and a visualiser to enhance the learning experience for our students.  There is a range of fiction and non-fiction texts in each classroom and literacy resources are always available to assist students in completing and developing the quality of their work.

Support:

Intervention sessions are available for selected students from every year group.  We also offer lunch time and after-school revision sessions for our GCSE and A-Level students throughout the school year.

Extra-Curricular:

We offer a range of extra-curricular activities including poet and author visits to celebrate National Poetry Day and World Book Day.  We also invite theatre groups into school to perform the set texts studied at all key stages such as Blood Brothers, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls and Romeo and Juliet.  We have also established links with The University of Liverpool and we are delighted that esteemed academics from the institution have delivered GCSE workshops to our Year 10 and 11 students.  At KS5, we have strong links with Edge Hill University and there are opportunities to visit the institution for English Language and English Literature seminars and workshops.

To download subject overviews please follow the link/s below:

English KS4