English at RPA

Our mission in the English Department is to develop independent thought, imagination and an appreciation of the power of words used well. We want our students to have a grounding in grammar, rhetoric and the stories of the past to help them make connections with the fiction and non fiction of the modern world. Students will develop skills in using  language with impact; to engage, entertain, persuade and argue.  We will create opportunities for students to hear voices from diverse perspectives and cultures, to explore culture in its broadest sense.  Our curriculum is designed to build opportunities to develop intellectual curiosity for all. We will use a range of stimuli so that students can craft their own carefully written texts and build strength in oracy:  to express themselves with  precision, purpose and flair. 

We believe the skills students learn in English are crucial to success at school and in future life. The aim of the English department is to work successfully as a team to create and deliver a stimulating, varied and challenging curriculum for all our students. We want our students to enjoy their lessons, and we aim to create an environment which will foster a love of literature, debate and discussion.

We work closely with the librarian to promote reading through the Accelerated Reading Programme; we know that able readers tend to be high achievers. Therefore, as English teachers, we give independent reading a high profile and monitor student participation in the scheme.

We have a wide stock of texts to engage our readers and continue to review and update this at KS3. At GCSE our students are encouraged to purchase their own texts to annotate and make notes in preparation for terminal exams.

Key Stage 3

Year 7 to 9 are taught in mixed ability groups. Text choices and approaches to learning are designed to build core skills that will be eventually examined at Key stage 4. The curriculum has recently been re-worked to ensure that the tenets of 'Exploration', 'Experience' and 'Ethical Principles' form the basis of how content is delivered and that the texts covered are diverse and culturally rich. We track students across the key stage against the Lift Schools' 'age-related expectations' to ensure progress in reading and writing.

Year 7

In Year 7 students have four 80-minute lessons over the weekly timetable. Some classes may have two teachers for English. The curriculum is divided into thematic ‘units’, offering opportunities for different genres of reading and writing for a range of purposes. The curriculum covers:

• Victorian England - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

• Looking Back - Myths and Legends

• The Future in literature - Dystopian Visions of the future

• Creative writing

• Grammar for Writing

Year 8

Year 8 students currently have four 80-minute lessons each week. Text choices offer suitable challenge and scope for wider reading and development with an increasing emphasis on the writer's craft:

• Gothic Literature Frankenstein and romantic rebellion

• Shakespeare’s Villains - Antagonists and inner conflict

• Conflict and the Contemporary Novel - Non fiction and class text

Year 9

Year 9 students also have four 80-minute lessons each week. The curriculum has been planned to challenge students in the lead up to GCSE both in terms of the Literature and Language AQA specifications. Their assessments at this point will be GCSE style.

• Of Mice and Men- Identity Diversity and Community Anthology (American Literature 2022 onwards)

• Short Stories- Reader as detective

• Romeo and Juliet - fortune’s fools - Choices and consequences

All Key Stage 3 classes spend one of their weekly lessons in either the library, in support of our Accelerated Reader Programme, or in class for either Creative Writing or Let's Think In English, developing engagement, inference and oracy through group work on texts.

Key Stage 4

Year 10

At Richmond Park Academy our students follow the AQA specification for English Language and Literature. They obtain two equally weighted, separate GCSEs in these subjects but study them together in a combined curriculum, with four 80-minute lessons over the two weeks.

• 20th-century novel or play - 'An Inspector Calls' (LIT EXAM TEXT)

• 19th-century novel - 'A Christmas Carol' 21-2022/ The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 2022-23 onwards  (LIT EXAM TEXT)

• Contemporary and literary heritage poetry (ANTHOLOGY AND UNSEEN FOR LIT EXAM)

• Writing to describe or narrate (ENGLISH EXAM)

• Comparing non-fiction texts (ENGLISH EXAM)

• Formal speaking and Listening Assessments (ENGLISH REQUIREMENT)

Year 11

Our current Year 11 students are completing the final year of the two-year GCSE course for AQA English Language and Literature. GCSE English language is assessed by two exams and GCSE English Literature also has two papers. The students complete their Literature set texts this year reading:

• Shakespeare’s 'Macbeth'

• A selection of ‘Unseen’ Poetry

• Much of Year 11 will be spent reviewing and practising skills for both sets of GCSE papers.

KS5 at RPA allows students to take their appreciation of Literature further, exploring critical perspectives to texts and drilling down into the complexities of Tragedy and Social and Political protest writing.

What we do when

Year 7

A Christmas Carol (Victorian Gothic, 19th Century text), Myths & Legends and Dystopian Fiction (Class text: The Hunger Games)

Year 8

Gothic Literature, Shakespeare’s Villains and Villainous Monologues (Poetry) and The Hate U Give (Class text)

Year 9

American Literature (Class text: Of Mice and Men and assorted American extracts and poetry), Short Stories and Romeo & Juliet (Tragedy)

Year 10

An Inspector Calls (Modern text), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (19th Century text) and Power and Conflict Anthology Poetry

Year 11

The Tragedy of Macbeth (Shakespeare), reteach of Year 10 texts, creative writing skills, unseen poetry practice and exam skills/ practice

Year 12

Tragedy (Shakespeare’s Othello, Keats’ poems and Miller’s Death of a Salesman)

Year 13

Political and Social Protest Writing (Atwood’s The Handmaid’s tale, Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner) There is a Non- Examination coursework component where students explore critical lenses to texts of their choice. 

Please see the KS3 and 4 overviews for further information below

Who to contact

Ms Jacka - Achievement Director English Faculty - ejacka@richmondparkacademy.org