Subject Information

Intention:

The Twickenham School English Department follows the whole school policy for curriculum provision. In addition to this, the English department will also:

• build on prior learning in key stages 1 and 2 in order to develop a life-long enthusiasm for English
• encourage all students to consider further study of English and entry to English related careers post-16 and beyond
• develop students’ interest in English in the wider world through activities such as school visits, clubs and competitions.

The English curriculum is based on our aims to ensure students are exposed to a wide variety of literature and develop and practice their skills in reading and writing.  It is our intention to ensure that students have had every opportunity to develop as confident communicators with knowledge of a diverse range of texts both contemporary and from the literary tradition.

Our curriculum is spirally sequenced so that students revisit and build key skills in reading and writing as they progress from KS3 to KS4.  In each year, students study poetry, drama and a prose text, plus a Shakespeare text in addition to creative writing and non-fiction reading and writing.  We place emphasis on speaking and listening as an essential element of our curriculum and work with the Jack Petchey Speak Out competition in Year 10 in preparation for the Spoken Language Endorsement at GCSE.At KS3 and KS4 all students are taught in mixed ability classes and follow the topics outlined on the curriculum sequence document. The units at KS3 build students’ skills, knowledge and subject terminology in preparation for KS4. 

Implementation - curriculum sequence

All students study both AQA GCSE English Language and Literature in KS4. The specification can be found here:

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-language-8700

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-8702