English
English Curriculum 3 I’s
Vision and Intent
Our curriculum intent across all key stages is to nurture and develop a love of literature, language and words for all students, taking into account the needs of all students so that everyone experiences success. We strive to share our love of the English language, provoking critical thought and a deep appreciation of the written and spoken word. Our vision is to develop the whole person through the exploration of rich literature that will encourage empathy and creativity. By examining the human experience and considering and challenging the values and morals reflected in stories, plays and poetry throughout history, our ambition is to create life-long learners. In English we strive to deliver a richly balanced and diverse curriculum that is both relevant and challenging for every student. In all key stages, the texts are carefully selected to reflect a plethora of cultural and literary contexts, which not only meet the needs of the national curriculum but also cater to the interests and wider issues and ideals that appeal to the community of students we serve.
English seeks to empower students to take responsibility for their learning. When they write critical essays or creative pieces each student has a voice to give opinions and share thoughts drawing upon morals and values.
Reading is placed at the centre of the KS3 curriculum as students are introduced to a number of challenging texts from a broad range of genres. At KS4 there is a strong academic focus in preparation for GCSE courses. This provides students with the resilience and opportunity to develop intellectually, empathetically and with pride.
The Maltings English curriculum will enable learners to:
Gain appropriate knowledge and skills that they will need in order to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life.
Broaden and extend cultural diversity, together with deepening existing knowledge on classical texts both fiction and nonfiction.
Read widely, discuss and develop written skills.
Secure a love of reading, writing , speaking and listening.
Develop ideas about cultural values
Develop their understanding of others, embodying empathy, sympathy and understanding
Create a culture of high aspirations and achievement in English through rigorous and robust teaching and assessment and feedback.
Developing a depth of knowledge and becoming adept at communicating in an academic register and form.
Exploring the connections between personal experience and real world views through poetry, prose and drama.
Providing opportunities to articulate viewpoints appropriately and convincingly to suit their audience and purpose, communicating with oral excellence.
Responding aptly to tasks which provide opportunities to write imaginative and transactional responses that successfully engage audiences.
Subject Implementation
The English curriculum is planned in a sequence of half termly units of work, which build both substantive and disciplinary knowledge. Skills are interlinked in terms of themes. It also seeks to meet the necessary requirements of both internal and external assessments and through the use of the new KS3 assessment criteria, monitoring of progress and addressing gaps in key priority groups will be more robust and effective. Robust and rigorous monitoring of assessment and feedback that provide ample opportunities for improvement, consolidation and progress.
At classroom level, English is taught creatively both at KS3 and KS4. All schemes of work contain content and suggestions for effective, adaptive delivery. All teachers within the team are expected to work to their strengths, advocate their subject passion in order to engender a love of reading and writing within students, and enquiring minds which seek to pursue additional areas of reading and research.
Schemes of work also identify regular assessment tasks which are used for measuring performance and to inform future teaching. The same tasks will be completed amongst the team and provide an opportunity for us to use whole class feedback collectively. This will ensure consistency in assessment, marking and feedback throughout the department, and students are given the same opportunity to address any gaps or misconceptions. New KS3 basebands for assessment criteria aims to provide students and parents with a better understanding of their progress and attainment, as well as enable us as a team to monitor this more effectively. The same applies to the completion of weekly timed responses in Yr 11, and the tracking of this data.
The implementation of the English curriculum includes:
The sequencing of knowledge which enables key skills to be transferred and built upon what has been taught before.
Opportunities to study texts in different contexts through theatre trips, external visitors, and text workshops.
Clear links to literacy through extended writing, oracy, and key terminology, which are embedded throughout the curriculum.
Assessments are completed every half term with every year group against the key knowledge and skills being developed in that unit. Assessments are moderated to ensure accuracy of marking and consistency across the department. This assessment data can then be used to inform teaching for the next unit of work. Whole class feedback is employed in which students are required to act on the feedback received by their teacher to progress their learning and move to the next level.
Connections with the wider school curriculum through diverse characters, thematic studies, and historical and social context.
In depth studies of diverse cultures to gain an appreciation of the wider world.
The development of substantive and disciplinary knowledge through regular retrieval practice and assessment.
Making authentic links: seeing connectivity to all areas of learning including philosophy, Maths and Sciences.
Homework tasks planned and implemented for each unit to continue the development of students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject.
Subject Impact
Our aim, through knowledge based implementation, is to develop a rich understanding of the knowledge and skills required in the English curriculum so that this in turn impacts upon students’ long term memory and their performance in assessments, external examinations, and future careers. In terms of both content and skills, students will be directed to make connections between old learning and new learning and encouraged to transfer the appropriate skills within our subject and beyond. They will develop the skills to think independently, analytically, critically and creatively in order for them to succeed in each aspect of the curriculum, and the diverse nature of our schemes of work will impact their appreciation of different cultures and the wider world.
A Maltings Academy English student will:
Be able to express themselves independently, analytically, critically and creatively.
Appreciate social and cultural diversity through a wide range of fiction and nonfiction texts.
Express empathy and appreciate how characters and themes relate to their own lives.
Form intellectual insights and articulate these clearly.
Appreciate how social and historical context impacts the understanding of texts and informs authorial intent.
Retain substantive knowledge effectively in order to apply this across each scheme of learning.
Know and understand how to apply disciplinary knowledge across various forms of writing.
Appreciate a writer’s use of language and methods and how these are used to demonstrate their intentions.
Grow to be thoughtful literary enthusiasts and critical readers who not only make outstanding progress, consistently achieving and exceeding expectations in English but who also engage with and enjoy their learning.
Become confident and resilient learners who will be skilled in exploring core values of morality, empathy and resilience.
Become responsible citizens within English and the wider community.
English Journey Map
English Key Stage 3
English Key Stage 4