Why do we learn English?
Stories matter and the stories we tell our students shape their understanding of themselves and who they choose to become. We aspire to develop critical thinkers who feel empowered to make informed decisions. We teach morally complex narratives that prepare our students for navigating the morally complex modern world. We aim for our students to develop a love of reading and to develop a personal, critical understanding of the texts we study, which they can then apply to the world around them. In tandem, we explicitly teach the skills needed to become effective and empathetic communicators. We have deliberately designed a curriculum which immerses students in experiences both familiar and unfamiliar and equips them with the skills they need to become worldly citizens that make the world a better place.
Head of Department
Ms Tiffany Yates
Our approach
In Early Years, our students are given daily opportunities to expand oral communication and develop fine motor control which are the essential building blocks to put ideas onto paper and control a pencil. In Reception, daily, one hour RWInc phonics lessons teach students the essential blending and segmenting skills so that they can write at both word and sentence levels. In addition, the daily writing lessons teach students skills with which they can access child-initiated opportunities to be a writer and reader across the school day; students move from thinking phrases, to saying phrases and expressing them on paper. A Talk for Writing approach builds foundations of sentence structure, expression and vocabulary in the students’ toolkit. Students at BDPA are taken on a journey to becoming independent and skilled readers and writers.
Through Key Stage 1, our students develop a genuine pleasure for reading, and an embedded home-reading habit. Students have daily phonics or reading lessons as well as daily writing lessons. Through a planned series of high-quality texts and the rigour of the Read, Write Inc. programme, pupils are taught reading fluency as well as comprehension through different genres. The Talk for Writing approach enables students to become confident speakers and creative, imaginative writers whose fluent story telling allows the development of rich vocabulary. Vocabulary is also taught explicitly in all curriculum lessons. Oracy is further developed through class discussions, assembly performances, Nativity plays and the outdoor learning programme. In addition, students practise their handwriting to form a legible cursive script and work through spelling patterns and common exception words. Grammar is taught through writing lessons and discrete grammar lessons.
In Key Stage 2, students are expected to read for pleasure; the home reading records are used to develop preference and review skills as well as monitoring genre, range and frequency of reading. Teachers guide students in book choices from the school library. Students write for multiple purposes using a range of genres, sentence structures, vocabulary and grammatical features from their toolkit in both their daily reading and writing lessons. Vocabulary is taught explicitly in all curriculum lessons. Students work from range of high quality books, with some texts linking to the humanities topic so that students are reading and writing content that embeds cross-curricular knowledge. Students will gain a pen license once their cursive script is secure enough to be used across the curriculum. Students learn new spelling patterns, common exception words and grammar structures in both writing lessons and discrete spelling and grammar sessions. Oracy is developed through a Talk for writing approach in writing lessons, habits for discussion across the curriculum, outdoor learning and performance opportunities.
At Key Stage 3, all students have 5 lessons of English a week. This is divided into 4 lessons of Literary Heritage and 1 lesson of Mastery Grammar. Each year, students’ study one 19th Century text and one Shakespeare text, revisiting and building on last year’s study, as well as preparing them for the most challenging parts of the GCSE curriculum. Students also study a range of poetry in Year 7 which is returned to in Year 9. When studying grammar students use an interleaved, mastery approach to ensure a high level of technical accuracy before reaching Key Stage 4. The core knowledge expected of students is made explicit in the knowledge organisers for each unit. Key academic vocabulary for each unit is made explicit in the unit plan. Homework at Key Stage 3 focuses on committing key knowledge to memory to give students a secure schema of learning that they can use to form their own opinions about texts.
At Key Stage 4, students have 6 lessons a week. This is divided between Language and Literature study on a termly basis. Each text is studied for one half term but skills are embedded across all texts for overall study. The content has all been taught by January of Year 11, allowing students to sit full mocks at this point and allowing time for revision and refinement of their knowledge and skills once all the content has been covered. The core knowledge expected of students is made explicit in the Knowledge Organisers for each unit. Key academic vocabulary for each unit is made explicit in the unit plan. Homework at Key Stage 4 focuses on committing key knowledge to memory to give students a secure schema of learning that they can use to form their own opinions about texts. It also develops independent working skills necessary for effective revision and success at KS5.
At Key Stage 5, students have 7 lessons a week, divided between two teachers. Each teacher focuses on one paper to ensure that the links between texts within genres are explicit which is especially important in the comparative papers. Homework is extensive and comprises pre-reading, annotation and essay writing. Students are expected to complete at least 5 hours of independent work every week. The content of the course is completed by January of Year 13 allowing time for revision, making links between texts and examination practice.
Year 7 - English
| Autumn |
|---|
|
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens • Character • The Victorian Era • Analytical writing • The Novel • Grammar |
| How do authors create characters? |
| Spring |
|---|
|
A Midsummer Night's Dream • Shakespearean Language • The Elizabethan Era • Analytical writing • The play form • Grammar |
| How does Shakespeare create an intricate plot? |
| Summer |
|---|
|
Poetry and Creative Writing • Metaphor • Unseen poetry • Analytical writing • Grammar |
| How can writers change our perspective on things? |
Year 8 - English
| Autumn |
|---|
|
Sherlock Holmes • Character • The Victorian Era • Analytical writing • Structural elements (Structure of a story; Foreshadowing; Dramatic irony) • Detective fiction • Grammar |
| How do authors create characters who are multi-faceted? |
| Spring |
|---|
|
The Tempest • Shakespearean Language • The Elizabethan Era • Colonialism • Structure: 3 different plots • Analytical writing • The play form • Grammar |
| How do texts reflect the era in which they are written? |
| Summer |
|---|
|
Animal Farm by George Orwell and Rhetoric • Allegory and metaphor • Author’s purpose • Analytical writing • Cyclical structure • Grammar |
| How do authors persuade people? |
Year 9 - English
| Autumn |
|---|
|
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte • Character • The Victorian Era • Analytical writing • Grammar |
| How do authors criticise their society? |
| Spring |
|---|
|
Small Island and Romeo and Juliet • Tragic genre • Shakespearean Language • Jacobean Era • Post-War Britain context • Analytical writing • The modern play form |
| How do playwrights comment on their era? |
| Summer |
|---|
|
Comparative Poetry • Poetic form • Language techniques • Poetic structure • Comparing contexts Comparison |
| How and why do authors portray different perspectives on topics? |
Year 10 - English
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley • The Edwardian Era • Class and criticism of class • The play genre • Analytical writing |
Language Paper 1 • Understanding an unseen text • Analysing language and structure • Understanding how a writer constructs a viewpoint • Writing creative texts |
| How can texts be used to criticise society? | How do authors shape meaning within texts and how can I do the same? |
| Spring |
|---|
|
Macbeth • Shakespearean Language • The Jacobean Era • The tragic genre • Analytical writing • The play form |
| How does Shakespeare use the tragic genre to comment on contemporary concerns? |
| Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|---|---|
|
Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson • Character • The Victorian Era • Texts as criticisms of society • Analytical writing • The novel • Analytical writing |
Persuasive writing and speaking • Boxing to argue approach to persuasive writing • Presentation skills • Speaking in front of others |
| How does Jekyll and Hyde comment on Victorian society? | How can I use my writing and voice to persuade others so I can make the world a better place? |
Year 11 - English
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 |
|---|---|
|
Power and conflict poetry • Poetic form • Comparing use of language techniques • Comparing contexts • Comparison |
Jekyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson • Character • The Victorian Era • Texts as criticisms of society • Analytical writing • The novel • Analytical writing |
| How and why do poets portray things differently? | How does Jekyll and Hyde comment on Victorian society? |
| Spring |
|---|
|
Bespoke revision programme following the mock exams • Review content covered so far • Use retrieval practice and exam practice to develop skills for the exam. |
| How do students best retain information? |
| Summer |
|---|
|
Bespoke revision programme following the mock exams • Review content covered so far • Use retrieval practice and exam practice to develop skills for the exam. |
| How do students best retain information? |
Year 12 - English
| Autumn (Teacher A) | Autumn (Teacher B) |
|---|---|
|
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams •Literary context of American Drama •Biographical context of Tennessee Williams •Historical and social context of the Old South, American immigration, mental illness and women’s rights. •The genre of tragedy •Developing strong argument and language analysis. Essay writing skills |
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood • Literary context of dystopian novels • Biographical context of Margaret Atwood • Historica• Literary context of dystopian novels • Biographical context of Margaret Atwood • Historical and social context of 1980s USA and Europe. • Analysis of the novel form • Developing strong argument and language analysis. • Essay writing skills |
| How does A Streetcar Named Desire reflect the anxieties of 1940's America? | How do texts reflect their contexts? |
| Spring (Teacher A) | Spring (Teacher B) |
|---|---|
|
Poems of the Decade Anthology • Literary context of Modern poetry • Biographical context of the individual poets • Historical and social contexts of the individual poems studied • Study o• Literary context of Modern poetry • Biographical context of the individual poets • Historical and social contexts of the individual poems studied • Study of the poetic form • Unseen poetry skills • Comparative skills |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley • Literary context of Romanticism and Science Fiction • Biographical context of Mary• Literary context of Romanticism and Science Fiction • Biographical context of Mary Shelley • Historical and social context of the Enlightenment, women’s rights and advancing technology • Analysis of the novel form • Comparative skills • Developing strong argument and language analysis. |
| How do poets use texts to express their ideas about modern society? | How do texts continue to develop after they are written? |
| Summer (Teacher A) | Summer (Teacher B) |
|---|---|
|
Revision of A Streetcar Named Desire and Poems of the Decade. Initial study of Barbershop Chronicles and Small Island for coursework. |
Revision of Frankenstein and The Handmaid's Tale Initial study of Things Fall Apart and Girl, Woman, Other for coursework. |
| How can I draw links between texts? | How can I draw links between texts? |
Year 13 - English
| Autumn (Teacher A) | Autumn (Teacher B) |
|---|---|
|
Othello by William Shakespeare • Literary context of Renaissance Drama • Biographical context of • Historical and social context of racial tensions, the status of women, religion and • The genre of tragedy • Performance history Critical reception |
Romantic Poetry • Literary context of Romanticism • Biographical context of the individual poets • Historical and social contexts of the individual poems studied • Study of the poetic form |
| How does Othello fulfil and subvert expectations of Shakespearean tragedy? | How far can Romantic Poetry be seen as a rebellion? |
| Spring (both teachers) |
|---|
|
Tailored revision based on mock exams • Literary and social context • Revise genre of tragedy and of poetry • Revise performance history • Revise critical reception • Revise literary analysis • Revise • Exam skills |
| How do students best retain information? How can students show off their knowledge in their exam? |