English

In KS3 our goal in our department is often to change the students’ preconceived ideas about their impression of and ability in English. Many students have had very negative experiences with reading and writing at previous settings and bring the psychological effects of that with them. We have created an approachable and flexible curriculum that allows all students to experience success from their first lessons in our department whilst also ensuring high expectations are instilled from the off. We also have to acknowledge that our students often arrive with gaps in prior learning and will need a personalised approach in order to catch up to their peers. This takes place in lessons that are scaffolded towards the needs of specific students as well as in intervention sessions. We believe that celebrating success in the classroom is key to building a successful student. Building self-esteem in our students so they feel they are able to take more ownership of their learning as they move forward is something that we constantly work towards. Our goal is to stretch our students and build their resilience to become independent learners.