English GCSE

Students will follow an exciting and challenging curriculum that prepares them for their English Language and English Literature GCSE examinations. Teachers will share their passion for classic works of literature through our study of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol whilst allowing students to explore their ideas and views on the world around them through the study of Power and Conflict poetry. Students will also develop a further understanding of modern drama alongside a consideration of societal issues through An Inspector Calls.

During the course, students are nurtured and encouraged to consolidate and develop their writing skills. Students are given the opportunity to learn and use new vocabulary and extend their crafting of writing for different forms to the level of sophistication expected at GCSE and beyond. They will also have the opportunity to read and respond to 19th, 20th and 21st century extracts from fiction and nonfiction, using these to develop their language skills of inference, summary, comparison and evaluation. Speaking and presenting skills are embedded within the schemes of learning with the opportunity to complete their Spoken Language Endorsement during the summer term, where students choose a topic they feel strongly about and present their ideas to the class – a fantastic chance to practice the form of spoken communication that is so readily used in higher education and the workplace.

Assessments and approaches to texts and topics are in the style and language of GCSE in order for students to feel confident and familiar with what is expected of them in their formal GCSE assessments. This allows them time to gain feedback, practice and improve before the final exams.