English & Literacy

Faculty Leader: Miss S Neat

Subject Leader: Mrs L Farrington

English Faculty Curriculum Intent

We hope that through the study of English at Madeley, students are empowered to interpret the world around them, make insightful connections between concepts and ideas and consequently, build knowledge which results in a feeling of confidence and assurance. The focus on mastering technical accuracy in writing is born out of the belief that competent and creative writers will have developed an almost natural ability to craft grammatically accurate sentences and paragraphs, thus leading to successful writing which can be adapted to suit a range of purposes and audiences.

The English curriculum is revised yearly in order to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of planning for progression. We use the Mastery Ark Curriculum in KS3 and have built our KS4 curriculum to reflect their foundational principles of being knowledge-rich and practising for automaticity.

The curriculum is journey from Year 7 to 11, where knowledge is gradually built and developed, and the application of skills becomes automatic through direct instruction and routine exercises. Through this systematic approach, students should become competent and confident writers for all occasions. We aim for students to enjoy a range of literature and to develop the ability to make intelligent links whilst interpreting challenging concepts, ideas and themes that help them understand the complex world in which we live.

Key Stage 3

The KS3 English Mastery Curriculum is designed to enable students to reach levels of automaticity in their writing for true mastery of the subject. The curriculum is rooted in the belief that ‘over-learning’ and regular practise is the path to real competency, and therefore the schemes of work include incremental episodes of repetition in order to assist long-term memory. The units of work are also packed with systematic and routine checking of understanding in order to master the ideas, concepts and stories that have shaped the world.

Dedicated grammar lessons reinforce knowledge from KS2 and build on prior learning to help pupils master these and apply rules subconsciously. Explicit vocabulary teaching empowers teachers to teach a wealth of rich language that will close the word – and attainment – gap for students.

Fortnightly quizzes for literature in addition to weekly spellings tests for rules and words for those with significant gaps, ensure that students are continually reflecting on their progress, and aids all class teachers to intervene in a more timely and effective manner.

Reading for pleasure is built into the curriculum as both an academic and personal development priority. In Year 7, 8 and 9, students have a reading lesson once per fortnight, during which they read a whole-class novel and are encouraged to read aloud to develop their fluency and confidence, as well as discussing their responses to plot and character development. These texts are regularly refreshed, offering contemporary and classic titles from ‘Kick’ by Mitch Johnson in Year 7 to ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ for additional challenge in Year 9. Reading competitions and challenges are offered to encourage students to read widely and out of their comfort zones. We have a great number of Madeley students who have had their work published in national anthologies and collections!

KS3 students also engage in Sparx Reader, where they read to develop accuracy in comprehension by reading books that are selected to match their reading level, offering appropriate challenge. Students earn Sparx Reader Points when answering Check Point Questions accurately, and quickly build up some excellent reading habits as well as developing reading accuracy.

To find out more about Reading at Madeley, click here

Key Stage 4

Year 10 and 11

The KS4 curriculum is focused on preparation for terminal GCSE examinations in English Language and Literature. During the 2-year course, students study set GCSE texts for Literature, alongside linked topics in GCSE Language, where key themes and concepts such as poverty and social injustice are embedded through the teaching of discreet Language questions. We build on the technical accuracy skills and knowledge from KS3 Mastery Writing and apply these in more creative tasks.

We provide opportunities for curriculum enrichment in the form of visits and theatre trips in Y10 and 11 to supplement literature studies wherever we can; we believe that experiencing the texts coming to life on the stage is the best way to enjoy them!

English Roadmap

Updated: 12/03/2024 393 KB

Assessments:

Students will complete an assessment during or at the end of each Literature text study. At the start of Year 10, these will be supported by directed preparation, open book assessments and pre-released question topics. As the academic year continues, the level of support will reduce to closed-book assessments whereby students will have notice of the assessment topic area, and opportunity to prepare in class, but no access to notes or texts during the assessment. In Year 11, all assessments linked to texts already studied in Year 10 will be closed-book.

English Language assessments take place at the end of Year 10 as formal mock examinations, and in Year 11 as part of final mock exams in the Autumn and Spring terms, as per the whole school assessment calendar.