Quotes

“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” – Rita Mae Brown (writer, activist, feminist)

Purpose

English has an integral place in education and society. Our high-quality curriculum in English teaches pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and spiritually. Literature especially plays a key role in such development. Our course is rich with a diverse range of challenging and canonical literary fiction, plays and poetry, as well as a relevant and engaging modern day texts. The curriculum helps students to find their voice by drawing on their wider literary heritage and will enable their full and active participation in society.

Key Stage 3 features and summary

We have resourced a research led curriculum which is designed to enable all students to flourish in English, and to produce confident, literate and critical readers, writers and thinkers by the end of Year 9 and beyond. Our Key Stage 3 curriculum exposes students to a wide range of authors from the English Literary Canon, supplemented with a modern and diverse Reading for Pleasure programme. Students develop their reading skills by learning how to closely analyse the texts that they study, scrutinising the choices of the writers and how they affect readers. In particular, our KS3 curriculum has been crafted to equip students in becoming experts of their domain by building a strong foundational understanding of grammar, writing and reading to equip them for KS4. Furthermore, our curriculum has recently undergone changes and updates as a central stand of our Covid-recovery plan and focuses on exposing students to the best ideas in English Literature to foster a passion of reading, identifying and dispelling misconceptions, rebuilding academic resilience and ensuring excellent outcomes for all.

Students have 4 English lessons a week.

KS3 curriculum map & knowledge organisers

KS3 Curriculum Map

Key Stage 4 features and summary

All students at Rushey Mead Academy study English Language and English Literature for GCSE during Years 10 and 11, following the AQA Specification. Texts are chosen by expert teachers who understand the needs of the cohort based on prior assessment and excellent relationships with students.

Throughout the course, students read the key literature texts and study them in depth. Our lessons are rich in content and allow students ample opportunities to explore and analyse the texts and contexts in which they were written, always with opportunities for further exploratory reading. The skills of literature and language are integrated across the English curriculum. A dedicated Language unit each year develops skills alongside a passion for reading, enabling students to master and excel in the skills needed for responding to exam questions. Students also complete Spoken Language assessments where speaking and listening skills are developed and assessed as an add-on to their GCSE qualifications.

Students have 4 English lessons a week.

Further specification specific information can be found below:

AQA | English | GCSE | English Literature

AQA | English | GCSE | English Language

KS4 curriculum map & knowledge organisers

KS4 Curriculum Map

Assessment and feedback

Assessment and feedback (MISSING FILE)

Exam Board

Students will take the AQA GCSE English Language, English Literature and English courses with us.
AQA English

AQA | English | GCSE | English Literature

AQA | English | GCSE | English Language

Useful websites and resources

GCSE POD: https://www.gcsepod.com/gcsepod_content/english/

BITESIZE: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/subjects/zt3rkqt

BBC SKILLSWISE: https://www.bbc.com/teach/skillswise/english/zjg4scw

SPARKNOTES: https://www.sparknotes.com/

LITCHARTS: https://www.litcharts.com/

MR BRUFF (YOUTUBE): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM2vdqz-7e4HAuzhpFuRY8w

MRS WHEELAN (YOUTUBE): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0jbf4wI1GPts6hpbKZ-7Bw

MISS RYAN’S GCSE ENGLISH: https://missryansgcseenglish.com/

Further Reading KS3 English – Link (MISSING FILE)

Further Reading KS4 English – Link (MISSING FILE)

Co-curricular opportunities

In English we have in and out of class opportunities to stretch students beyond the content within the curriculum map. For example:

  • Debate Club
  • Public speaking
  • Asia House creative writing competition
  • Year 10 reading buddies
  • Library book talks
  • BBC school report
  • Author visits

Poetry and other competitions.

Stretch and challenge opportunities

Our curriculum has been designed with higher ability students in mind and they benefit from the rich and broad curriculum on offer. In addition, higher ability students are provided with a passport to track and monitor their stretch activities across the year. The activities are a range of tasks which are to be completed both in and out of lessons. Passports vary across year groups, but tasks include:

  • A challenging reading list to be completed.
  • Students teaching a starter or plenary.
  • Leadership roles: displays champions, reading buddies.
  • Prompts to enter writing competitions.
  • Priority for author visits.

Homework

KS3:

Students are given a reading booklet each term with a range of fiction and non-fiction extracts from the 19th – 21st centuries. These booklets have tasks which enable students to practise and develop their reading and writing skills so that they are reading beyond classroom texts and widening their experience of literature and language.

In addition, students have spellings and some grammar work on a weekly basis.

KS4:

Students are given a range of tasks, set individually by their class teacher, which supple.

Revision advice

How to revise for English (MISSING FILE)

LANGUAGE:

  • Read a range of non-fiction: Broadsheet newspapers/online articles.
  • Create vocabulary banks with impressive synonyms.
  • Revise spelling patterns of complex vocabulary.
  • Revise grammar skills and sentence/punctuation variety.
  • Complete past-papers.
  • Revise class notes – making new notes, self-quizzing, improving work.

LITERATURE:

  • Re-read key texts.
  • Use revision websites (such as Sparknotes or LitCharts) to deepen your understanding.
  • Use knowledge organisers to self-quiz.
  • Create vocabulary banks for each set text.
  • Explore and research context of key texts in greater detail.
  • Make cue-cards with key quotations to memorise.
  • Use quizlet to revise quotations and vocabulary definitions.

Additional information

The best way that you can help your child to progress in English is by prompting them to read a wide and varied range of fiction and non-fiction texts in their free time. Those who read regularly are more likely to succeed in all aspects of life, as shown in this graph:

Faculty Staff

Molly Baldwin-Jones: [email protected] (Assistant Principal)
Ros Reading: [email protected] (Curriculum Leader)
Michelle Cliffe: [email protected] (Curriculum Leader)
Sarah McFeeley: [email protected]
John Howson: [email protected]
Shireen Takolia: [email protected]
Daniel Powell: [email protected]
Munroop Kaur Panesar: [email protected]
Luke Edwards: [email protected] (Curriculum Leader: Media)
Zakia Suleman: [email protected]
Natasha Turner: [email protected]
Selina Street-Soden: [email protected]
Nishitha Limbachiya [email protected]
Sara Ayub: [email protected]
Judith Steele: [email protected]
Mohammed Rangwalla: [email protected]