At Highgate Hill, the English department strives to give the opportunity for our students to be excellent readers, writers, speakers and thinkers. We aim to give our students a depth of English Literature and English Language that allows them to go on to lead the best possible lives.
This is the forefront of our curriculum as well as ensuring it is line with the school’s vision of creating ‘well rounded individuals’. Collaborative curriculum planning lies at the heart of what we do in the department however embracing the autonomy of the teachers. We work closely as an English department, external agencies, subject specialists and research to inform our planning.
Provided you fulfil the course requirements, you will be entered for examinations for two GCSEs: GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature (exam board: AQA).
Year 10
| Time | Core content: | Assessment |
| Autumn 1 | “An Inspector Calls” by J.B Priestley – To learn about the social and historical context of the play. – To understand the plot, characters and themes of the play – To write about language, structure and form. | Assessment: How does Priestley present a character of theme in ‘An Inspector Calls’ |
| Autumn 2 | “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens – To learn about the social and historical context of the novella. – To understand the plot, characters and themes of the novella. – To write about language, structure and form. | Assessment: How does Dickens present the character or theme in the extract. |
| Spring 1 | English Language Paper 1 -To read and analyse a range of fiction texts. -To understand the types of questions asked on an English Language Paper 1 exam. -To learn how to write about language and structure in the exam. -To understand how to write creatively and imaginatively for the creative writing question in the exam. | Assessment: English Language Paper 1 questions. |
| Spring 2 | Poetry – Power and Conflict – To read and analyse the poetry in the collection. -To learn about the social and historical context of the poetry in the collection.. – Make comparisons between the poems, thinking carefully about their themes. – Exam techniques. | Assessment: How does the poet present the theme of_________in the poem? |
| Summer 1 | Poetry – Power and Conflict/Unseen Poetry – To read and analyse the poetry in the collection. – To make comparisons between poetry, thinking carefully about their themes. – Exam techniques. | Assessment: Comparison between two poems in the collection. |
| Summer 2 | Revision for the Summer mocks/English Language Paper 2- Section B | End of Year mock examination: English Language Paper 1 and English Literature Paper 2 |
Year 11
