A range of Greek and Norse myths including ‘Perseus and Medusa’ and ‘Thor, Loki and the Giants’. Students also study ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.’ The class reader is ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce and the students also study a range of nature poetry by notable poets like Wordsworth, Hardy, Emily Bronte and more modern writers. Pupils read extracts from Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ 

A range of canonical Gothic literature from writers like Poe, Shelley and Stoker, a range of non-fiction texts to do with crime, and the Helen Edmundson play adaptation ‘Coram Boy.’ Pupils finish the year by studying ‘Romeo and Juliet.’

A range of extracts from different dystopian literature texts are taught before commencing Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Students then study different forms of travel writing from different writers before moving onto seminal world speeches from speakers like Malala and Martin Luther King. Issues of race, identity and family division are also explored in Lorraine Hansbury’s ‘A Raisin in the Sun.’