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• English Language and English Literature

The aim of the English Department is to prepare all pupils to sit two GCSE's, AQA English Language and English Literature. All pupils have three English lessons a week, with additional literacy during Form Time, including two reading sessions.

The AQA GCSE specification is assessed through 100% examination and is aimed at developing all pupils’ abilities to read, understand and analyse a wide range of different texts covering the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st Century. Additionally, the department also focuses on pupils being able to write clearly, coherently and accurately using a wide range of vocabulary and sentence structures. With this in mind, pupils in year 8/9 follow a modular map that allows all pupils to ‘Master’ the skills required for GCSE.

For English Literature we have chosen to study ‘An Inspector Calls’, ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ or ‘Christmas Carol’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or ‘Macbeth’ and a selection of poems from the AQA Anthology. However, pupils who have studied other texts at previous schools can continue to study their chosen texts and will receive additional support.

We are also keen to inspire pupils to read for pleasure and we use regular reading sessions to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to extend their vocabulary. Additionally, we have recently invested in an online vocabulary system called ‘Bedrock’ with the aim of developing further the pupils’ vocabulary.