Enjoy

Through our English curriculum at The Petersfield School, we aim to enable learners to develop the skills, qualities and knowledge needed to become effective communicators, have high levels of literacy, lovers of reading and above all, game changers. We believe that in order to become a game changer of the future, students must love what they do. This starts with fostering creativity, curiosity, enjoyment at school and broadening future aspirations. This is achieved through an extensive range of lesson activities and a substantial range of clubs that promote oracy, reading for pleasure, comprehension, healthy competition, creativity, collaboration, deeper thinking and resilience. We recognise that a love of literacy/reading is important, so we actively build in opportunities to develop an enjoyment of English. We want our students to leave as confident young adults who can make a difference in the world around them.

Respect

We expect all students to behave according to the school’s behaviour policy in lessons. Our intent in English is to promote respect for all. We want students to feel comfortable in discussing moral dilemmas, social/cultural divides in society and spiritual issues. We aim to give opportunities for debate, oracy and written work around these issues within the curriculum. Our aim is to enable students to express their viewpoint sensitively and effectively. We want students to respect each other’s viewpoints, challenge stereotypes and support each other in the classroom. We model this as staff within our department. 

We want students to feel safe and secure in a nurturing environment where current affairs can be discussed openly and accessed through different mediums. We want to use the opportunity to read around different cultures, religions and societies. It is important for our students to understand the world around them and to recognise the responsibility they have within their own community and the society in which they live.  

Achieve

We endeavour to secure excellent outcomes for students in Key Stage 3, their GCSEs and beyond. We want to ensure students are challenged, supported and driven in their learning. We aim for topics, themes and skills to be taught in a specific order that enables students to master the assessment objectives whilst maintaining a love of learning. We aim to show students the importance of being highly literate and effective communicators in the adult world. We feedback to students regularly on their work and in line with departmental policy, we want students to know what they need to do to improve specifically and to be able to progress rapidly. We aim to give students real time to reflect and improve their work in Directed Individual Reflection Time (DIRT) time.

Year 7 

• Magic, Fantasy and the Supernatural. Why are stories so important? A comprehensive study of the origins of fairy tales, myths and magical stories.

• Why are heroes and villains so important to society? An introduction to heroes and villains through time starting with Shakespeare and Dickens and ending with a full modern novel study on Trash by Andy Mulligan.

• In what ways do challenges and opportunities present themselves and how do they influence our behaviour? How do writers show this in fiction? A focus on crime and detective fiction including the study of The Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl and A Vendetta by Guy de Maupassant.

• Our students also have a literacy lesson once a week with a focus on reading for pleasure and completing our Lexia literacy programme. 

Year 8 

• Conflict. A study of war poetry, non-fiction and play study of Journey’s End by 

R C Sherriff. We also explore “war without the bullets”, including an exploration of feminism, racism, environmentalism and prejudice. 

• How do writers present their views on society? A novel study on The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge with an exploration of Victorian society.  We also look at non-fiction extracts linking themes to the novel study including Patriarchal Victorian society, Science vs Nature, Place of Women, Charles Darwin/ Evolution/ Origin of Species, Nature vs Nurture and Gothic and the Supernatural.

• How does Literature and the Media present alternative societies? This unit includes a full study of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare. 

• Our students also have a literacy lesson once a week with a focus on reading for pleasure and completing our Lexia literacy programme. 

Year 9 

• Significant Literary movements. Poetry across time through the theme of ‘Love and Hate’. Love and Hate poetry explores both concepts in different ways and considers how two opposing ideas can blur. We also look at fiction extracts with a focus on how writers create character, setting and theme.

• Shakespeare. Teachers choose a Shakespeare play to study including: Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Merchant of Venice or Much Ado About Nothing. 

• How do I detect a writer’s viewpoint, and how can I use these methods myself? GCSE study of An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley. We also complete the Spoken Language GSCE unit. 

Year 10 

• 19th Century novel study GCSE. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and AQA Language Paper 2: non-fiction analysis and writing skills.

• Shakespeare study GCSE. Macbeth by Shakespeare and Power and and AQA Language Paper 1: fiction analysis and writing skills.

• AQA Power and Conflict poetry, unseen poetry and AQA Language Paper 1 & 2 skills.

Year 11

• Revision of AQA Literature Paper 1: A Christmas Carol, Macbeth. Revision of AQA Language Paper 1: fiction analysis and writing skills. Revision of AQA Language Paper 2: non-fiction analysis and writing skills.

Revision of AQA Literature Paper 2: An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry, unseen poetry and continued revision of both Language papers.