See our English Curriculum below at Bentley Wood for KS3, KS4 and KS5
Course Aims:
We aim to ensure that our Key Stage 3 English curriculum enables all students to enjoy literature and gain an awareness and appreciation of classic texts. Throughout Key Stage 3, students will be given opportunities to develop as enthusiastic critical readers and enhance their written expression.
One Year 7 lesson a week is timetabled as a regular literacy lesson; it is used to focus on enhancing literacy skills, comprehension and technical accuracy in writing, which will support students in their GCSE studies of all writing-based subjects.
We expect all students to be reading regularly and have a recommended ’16 reads before 16’ book list to promote this throughout the year and request that parents support this at home.
Course Content:
Enrichment:
Key Stage 4 & 5 / Career Progression:
English underpins every subject in the curriculum and is therefore central to every possible career. Those who study English will find careers in management, public relations, the media, publishing, Law, Politics and teaching.
Reading:
Also see unit book recommendations.
The Year 9 curriculum provides a broad and knowledge-rich curriculum to students. We aim to ensure that our Year 9 curriculum enables all students to enjoy literature and gain an awareness and appreciation of classic texts. Throughout Year 9, students will be given opportunities to develop as enthusiastic critical readers and enhance their written expression in preparation for the GCSE course.
Recommended Reading:
“A book is simply the container of an idea like a bottle; what is inside the book is what matters.” Author: Angela Carter
Examining Board: Eduqas
Aim of the Course
The course aims to develop the students’ abilities to communicate effectively in speech and writing, and to listen with understanding. It should also enable them to be enthusiastic, responsive and knowledgeable readers.
There are three key areas of English Language: Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing.
Speaking and Listening:
Students will: present and listen to information and ideas; respond appropriately to others; make effective contributions, use creative approaches to exploring questions, solving problems and developing ideas; participate in a range of real-life contexts in and beyond the classroom, adapting talk to situation and audience; select and use a range of techniques and creative approaches to explore ideas, texts and issues in scripted and improvised work.
Students will study how meaning is constructed through words, sentences and whole texts, including multimodal texts and at least one extended text, exploring language variation. They will evaluate the ways in which texts may be interpreted differently according to the perspective of the reader.
Writing:
Written work will require students to write accurately and fluently, choosing content and adapting style and language to a wide range of forms, media, contexts, audiences and purposes.
Content:
Paper 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Writing Paper 2: 19th and 20th Century Non-Fiction Reading Study and Transactional/ Persuasive Writing Paper 3: Spoken Language Non-Exam Assessment
Paper 1: 20th Century Literature Reading Study and Creative Prose Writing
Reading: this section will test through structured questions the reading of an unseen extract from one 20th century literary prose text (about 60-100 lines).
Prose Writing: this section will test creative prose writing through one task from a choice of four titles giving opportunities for writing to describe and narrate, and imaginative and creative use of language.
Paper 2: 19th and 20th Century Non-Fiction Reading Study and Transactional/Persuasive Writing
Reading: this section will test through structured questions and reading of two high-quality unseen non-fiction texts (about 900-1200 words in total), one from the 19th century, the other from the 21st century. Non-fiction texts may include, but will not be limited to: letters, extracts from autobiographies or biographies, diaries, reports, articles and digital and multi-modal texts of various kinds from newspapers and magazines, and the internet.
Writing: this section will test transactional, persuasive and/or discursive writing through two equally weighted compulsory tasks. There will be opportunities to write for a range of audiences and purposes, adapting style to form and to real-life contexts, for example, letters, articles, reviews, speeches and reports.
Paper 3: Spoken Language (Non-exam Assessment)
Students will be required to complete one formal presentation or speech on any topic which interests them. They will also be assessed on their responses to questions and feedback following the presentation or speech. Standard English should be a feature of all parts of the students’ work in this component.
Recommended Reading
Revision Books:
“A good book is an event in my life.” Stendhal ‘The Red and the Black’
The Eduqas GCSE in English literature encourages learners to develop knowledge and skills in reading, writing and critical thinking. It provides learners with opportunities to read widely for pleasure across a range of high-quality texts in the genres of prose, poetry and drama.
Aim of Course
This course will enable students to explore their literary interests and to be enthusiastic, responsive and knowledgeable readers. Students will develop an understanding of the ways in which literature is rich and influential.
Content
The content of this course will consist of poetry, prose and drama, including a play by Shakespeare. A minimum of six texts will be studied, comprising:
Students will:
Paper 1: Shakespeare and Poetry Paper 2: Post 1914 Drama, 19th Century Prose and Unseen Poetry
Paper 1: Shakespeare and Poetry
Shakespeare: Macbeth
This section allows students to study one Shakespeare play: ‘Macbeth.’ Students will need to show their knowledge of dramatic techniques and demonstrate their understanding of plot, characterisation, events and key themes; they will need to analyse language, structure and form closely in order to engage critically with the play.
Poetry from 1789 to the present day
Students will have the opportunity to show their knowledge and understanding of the poems and the relationships between them and the contexts in which they were written. The anthology covers a range of poetry and is designed to introduce students to the rich heritage of poetry across centuries as well as illustrating how poets explore similar themes in different ways.
Paper 2: Post 1914 Drama, 19th Century Prose and Unseen Poetry
Post 1914 Drama
Students will study ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B Priestley. Students will have the opportunity to show their knowledge and understanding of dramatic techniques; the writer’s use of language, structure and form and show an understanding of key themes, characters and ideas within the text.
19th Century Prose
Students will study ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of context of the novel, the language, structure and form of the text and key themes, characters and ideas within the text.
Unseen Poetry
Students will study a range of unseen poems from the 20th and/or 21st centuries. They will have the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the poems and key ideas of each poem, and the poets’ use of language, structure and form.
Revision Book:
Key Stage 5 Progression/ Career Prospects
A Level English Literature is offered in the Sixth Form at Bentley Wood. English Literature is considered to be very important for a number of careers:
Is English Literature the subject for you?
If you enjoy reading and want to study a wide range of literature from past and present, then this is the course for you. There will be plenty of opportunities to discuss texts at length and read the views of others, before arriving at your own conclusions about characters, themes and the writer’s craft. You will be encouraged to think for yourself, to use textual evidence to support your ideas and to evaluate contextual significance.
Course content
Students will study a combination of novels, drama texts including Shakespeare, and poetry, learning to engage creatively and apply their knowledge of literary analysis in discussions and in writing. Texts will cover a wide range of periods from pre-1900 right up to the 21st Century. Lessons will vary, incorporating group and class discussions, presentations, group drama performances, analysis of DVDs based on texts, as well as study days and theatre visits as appropriate.
Methods of study
Most assessment is through examination, but there is a coursework element analysing and comparing novels from different time periods.
How will it be examined?
AS qualification will not count towards the final grade of an A Level and be a separate qualification in its own right (Linear).
Career opportunities
Students with AS or Advanced GCE English Literature have a wide range of possible career and higher education opportunities. You will learn and use a wide variety of transferable skills during the course. These include writing for a variety of purposes, expressing informed and independent opinions and identifying key links between different parts of the subject. These skills are in demand from employers, universities and colleges and are also valuable in their own right. In particular, the qualification can lead to opportunities in a variety of areas such as journalism, writing, teaching, the media or law.
