English

Your studies in English in Cohorts 9, 10 and 11 will follow a course leading to two GCSE qualifications studied in a combined course of English Language and English Literature. The course will develop your abilities to communicate effectively in speech and writing and to listen with understanding.  Learners’ experiences in English are designed to enable you to become an enthusiastic, responsive and knowledgeable reader. You will develop these skills through writing for different purposes and audiences.  In addition, you will analyse a range of literature from different periods and from a range of cultures. A key part of the course is the development of critical and analytical skills in your study of literary, language and media texts.

The English Language and English Literature courses all involve learners using a variety of skills both in group and individual situations.  Class discussions, independent reading and research, group and paired work are all employed within learning sessions.  You will engage your imagination and your analytical skills in order to access texts and various stimuli.  Theatre trips, film, radio and television also provide opportunities for learners to experience plays or texts in performance.

The study of English is compulsory at GCSE. The syllabi we now offer are designed to be accessible to all learners.  Learners will follow the separate study of English Language and English Literature GCSE course.  The landscape for English and English Literature is constantly adapting and improving.  We will communicate any updates with you as soon as they are published.

At Honywood we follow the AQA examination course.  During Cohort 9 we will begin to consider a range of GCSE texts such as novels, plays, poetry, media and non-fiction. We will focus on the further development of vital consolidation skills such as Writing for a range of purposes and contexts, and Reading for meaning.

The three-year Literature GCSE course will see learners undertake the study of poetry and make comparisons between poems for an examination at the end of Cohort 11.  You will also study at least one Shakespeare play, a modern text (such as An Inspector Calls), and a 19th century novel (such as A Christmas Carol) to prepare for exams at the end of the course.

The language course will require the study of non-fiction texts (and one literary text) from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.  These will require the reading skills of summary, inference, deduction and analysis.  You will be expected to develop your skills in writing a range of different texts with different purposes such as writing to entertain, inform, argue, describe and persuade.  All exams for this course will take place at the end of Cohort 11.

You will be assessed on your reading and writing skills.  In particular, your accuracy of work including spelling, punctuation and grammar will be assessed considerably.  You will also be assessed on speaking and listening, although this will not count towards the final grade in English Language.  There are no tiers of entry.  All learners sit the same exams.

If you do well in your final examinations and achieve a grade 5 or better, you can go on to study A Level English Language and/or English Literature.  Successful A Level grades in these can lead on to a variety of interesting and challenging degree courses and careers in teaching, journalism, publishing, public relations, media, theatre and law.  Colchester Sixth Form College are asking for a grade 5 in at least one ‘written’ subject – English Language and Literature both qualify.  If you do not achieve at least a grade 4 in English Language you will have to study the GCSE again in years 12 and 13.

Mrs Sparrow English Subject Leader      (vsparrow@honywoodschool.com)