English

Course Outline

Year 8 pupils will be given opportunities to undertake a number of different tasks and to experience a wide variety of texts during their first year at St Mary’s. Emphasis will be placed on developing pupils’ confidence and making the subject stimulating and enjoyable. Emphasis will be placed on ensuring that the pupils’ transition from primary school to St Mary’s is as smooth as possible.

Accordingly, pupils will have the opportunity to develop their literacy skills. One period each week focuses primarily on building upon and extending pupils’ literacy skills.

Every month a different literacy target will be addressed, pupils will be given the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon: their early childhood, home and family, friends, primary school and their experiences to the present day. A range of stimuli will be provided through poetry, drama and prose. Roald Dahl’s Boy will be the set text for Term 1.

Pupils will be asked to complete a self-assessment form, identifying what they feel they have done well and areas for improvement, at the end of each term/unit of work. A teacher comment will be added and a parental signature is required.

Year 9 and Year 10

Throughout Key Stage 3 pupils are building all the necessary skills to excel in communication. Each year, they will study a novel that will provide them with the opportunity to explore and enjoy a range of literature. Pupils are encouraged to engage in class discussion and debate regarding issues that arise through what they read. In Years 9 and 10, pupils will study the following:

Year 9

• Creative Writing
• Place Poetry
• Spoken Language – accent and dialect
• Persuasive Writing
• Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet

Year 10

• Literature of The Troubles (poetry, prose and drama)
• Pre-20th Century Prose
• Writing for Purpose and Audience
• Reading Non-fiction
• Reading Media Texts

 

Assessment

Tasks and assessments will be based on the three attainment targets: Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing. Pupils will be given opportunities to develop the key skills highlighted in the Curriculum:

• Managing Information
• Thinking, problem solving, decision making
• Being creative
• Working with others
• Self-management.

Study/Homework Requirements:

Pupils will be expected to:

• Complete at least one written homework per week
• Complete reading which may be given ONCE a week (parents should check homework diary and sign as indicated)
• Ensure a peaceful, suitable place is provided for the completion of homework.

Key Points To Success:

In order to succeed pupils should:

• Come to class ready and prepared for effective learning
• Ensure that all homework is planned, drafted and presented to an acceptable standard
• Ensure that their parents/guardians sign and check all homework
• Ensure that the success criteria is utilised as a guideline for success
• Ask teachers for help and guidance if in doubt!

Course Outline

The course aims to enable pupils to demonstrate skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing necessary to:

• Communicate with others confidently, effectively, precisely and appropriately;
• Express themselves creatively and imaginatively;
• Become critical readers of a range of texts, including multi-modal texts;
• Use reading to develop their own skills as writers;
• Understand the patterns, structures and conventions of written and spoken English;
• Understand the impact of variations in spoken and written language and how they relate to identity and cultural diversity;
• Select and adapt speech and writing to different situations and audiences.

Assessment

Speaking and Listening (AO1)

Candidates must:

• Speak to communicate clearly and purposefully; structure and sustain talk, adapting it to different situations and audiences; use standard English and a variety of techniques as appropriate
• Listen and respond to speakers’ ideas and perspectives, and how they present meaning
• Interact with others, shaping meanings through suggestions, comments and questions and drawing ideas together
• Create and sustain different roles.

 Study of Spoken Language (AO2)

Candidates must:

1. Understand variations in spoken language, explaining why language changes in relation to contexts;
2. Evaluate the impact of spoken language choices in their own and others’ uses.

 Studying Written Language (AO3)

Candidates must:

1. Read and understand texts, selecting material appropriate to purpose, collating from different sources and making comparisons and cross-references as appropriate;
2. Develop and sustain interpretations of writers’ ideas and perspectives;
3. Explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, structural and presentational features to achieve effects and engage and influence the reader.

Writing (AO4)

Candidates must:

1. Write to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, using and adapting forms and selecting vocabulary appropriate to task and purpose in ways that engage the reader;
2. Organise information and ideas into structured and sequenced sentences, paragraphs and whole texts, using a variety of linguistic and structural features to support cohesion and overall coherence;
3. Use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Unit 1: Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-Fiction and Media Texts

External exam, 1 hour 45 minutes – sat at the end of Year 11

• Section A: Writing
  17.5% of total GCSE, 55 minutes, 87 marks awarded
• Section B: Reading
  12.5% of total GCSE, 50 minutes, 63 marks awarded

Unit 2: Speaking and Listening (Controlled Assessment)

Three tasks with a combined total of 60 marks (20 marks per task) – 20% of the total GCSE

• Presenting
• Discussing
• Role-playing

Unit 3: The Study of Spoken Language and The Study of Written Language (Controlled Assessment)

• Task 1: The Study of Spoken Language
  10% of total GCSE, 1 hour write-up time, 30 marks awarded
• Task 2: The Study of Written Language
  10% of total GCSE, 1 hour write-up time, 30 marks awarded

Assessments will be selected from a task bank issued by the examination board.

All Controlled Assessment tasks must be completed in school under supervised conditions.

Unit 4: Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-fiction Texts

(External exam, 1 hour 45 minutes – sat at the end of year 12)

• Section A: Writing
  17.5% of total GCSE, 55 minutes, 88 marks awarded
• Section B: Reading
  12.5% of total GCSE, 50 minutes, 62 marks

External Assessment

Two examinations, 60%:

• Unit 1: Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-Fiction and Media Texts = 30% of total GCSE
• Unit 4: Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-fiction Texts = 30% of total GCSE

Study/Homework Requirements:

Pupils will be expected to:

• Complete at least one written homework each week
• Independently revise and read
• Meet deadlines
• Be fully prepared for the completion of controlled assessment tasks.

Key Points To Success:

In order to succeed pupils should:

• Come to class prepared and ready for effective learning
• Be committed to their learning and eager to learn
• Independently revise/summarise all key areas explored in class
• Re-read the texts/notes already covered
• Ask for parental/guardian support when needed
• Ask for teacher support when needed.

Course Outline

This course aims to encourage students to:

• Engage critically and creatively with a substantial body of texts and ways of responding to them;
• Develop and apply effectively their knowledge of literary analysis and evaluation;
• Explore the contexts of the texts they are reading and others’ interpretations of them;
• Deepen their understanding of the changing traditions of literature in English;
• Carry out independent research and present personal responses in the form and language appropriate to literary study;
• Develop advanced study skills that help them prepare for third level education;
• Demonstrate through challenging internal and external assessments that they Understand and can apply key concepts;
• Nurture a lifelong interest in English literature.

Assessment

Assessment objectives

• Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression (AO1);
• Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts (AO2);
• Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received (AO3);
• Explore connections across literary texts (AO4);
• Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations (AO5).

Unit AS 1: The Study of Poetry 1900 – Present and Drama 1900 – Present

External exam, 2 hours – sat at the end of Year 13

• Section A: Poetry of Seamus Heaney and Robert Frost, open book
  30% of total AS Level or 12% of total A Level, 1 hour, 50 marks awarded
• Section B: ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, closed book
  30% of total AS Level or 12% of total A Level, 1 hour, 50 marks awarded

Unit AS 2: The Study of Prose Pre-1900 – Present and Drama 1900 – Present

External exam, 1 hour – sat at the end of Year 13

• ‘Frankenstein’, closed book
  20% of total AS Level or 16% of total A Level, 1 hour, 50 marks awarded

Unit A2 1: Shakespearean Genres

External exam, 1 hour 30 minutes – sat at the end of Year 14

• ‘Othello’, closed book
  20% of total A Level, 1 hour 30 minutes, 50 marks awarded

Unit A2 2: The Study of Poetry Pre-1900 and Unseen Poetry

External exam, 2 hours – sat at the end of Year 14

• Section A: Chaucer’s ‘The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale’, open book
  10% of total A Level, 1 hour, 50 marks awarded
• Section B: Unseen Poetry
  10% of total A Level, 1 hour, 50 marks awarded

Coursework

Study/Homework Requirements:

Pupils will be expected to:

• Complete at least one written homework each week;
• Independently revise, research and read set texts and texts for internal assessment.

Key Points To Success:

In Order to Succeed Pupils Should:

• Come to class prepared and ready for effective learning;
• Be committed to their learning and eager to learn;
• Independently revise or summarise all key areas explored in class;
• Re-read the texts covered;
• Use their time in the study hall effectively;
• Read around the texts when context is required;
• Adhere to set deadlines;
• Ask for support when needed.