Welcome to Stewards English Department

English is divided into KS3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) and KS4 (Years 10 and 11) where GCSE courses are pursued.

KS3

In year 7, pupils are set in the Autumn term. Year's 8 and 9 are taught in sets.

KS3 English is divided into three strands:

• EN1 – Speaking and listening skills
• EN2 – Reading skills
• EN3 – Writing skills

Lessons are planned to incorporate these three strands of the National Literacy Strategy.

Within each year we cover a variety of genres:

• Non-fiction texts
• Novel
• Drama
• Poetry
• Media
• Short Stories

Texts are reviewed regularly to keep in line with current trends.

These are studied within a planned period of 6/7 weeks culminating in an assessed piece which is given a level.

Trips

The English Department regularly organise London theatre trips, including Woman In Black for year 9, Billy Elliot for year 8, Blood Brothers for Year 10 and The Producers for Year 11.

Guided Group Reading

In years 7 and 8 one lesson per week is dedicated to a guided reading scheme where pupils are class taught and divided into smaller groups to read and study texts in a guided way with the teacher, the librarian and the Curriculum Development Assistant or Literacy Assistant.

Year 9 SATs

During year 9 pupils are prepared for the Standard Assessed Tests (SATs) from January to May, bearing in mind that all of the previous work prepares them for these tests. They study The Tempest for their Shakespeare study and they work on practice papers as part of their preparation. However, it needs to be borne in mind that the teacher assessment, which is done over a period of time, is as important as these tests.

KS4

AT KS4 pupils are taught two subjects, English and English Literature through 4 x 50 minute lessons. All of the skills developed in KS3 are used and built upon in the GCSE courses. We follow the AQA syllabus for both English and Literature.

Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing are mapped out across the two year course with five pieces of coursework undertaken largely during year 10 and finally completed by Autumn of Year 11.