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English

English

Core Purpose: Our intent: At KSA, our English department fosters an enthusiasm, confidence and fluency in reading which will: awaken intellectual curiosity in our learners; build their KNOWLEDGE OF a wide range of classical and modern literature; and give them the confidence & AMBITION to find, finesse and articulate their opinions on the texts they have studied with technical accuracy whilst developing important oracy skills.

Our students should understand that all writers have an intent behind their writing and that there are a range of themes and contexts that influence writers.  Students investigate individual authors further looking at how their work fits within genres and their historical contexts.  Students build STRENGTH in their KNOWLEDGE in order to  make connections between the genres and texts they study.

Our curriculum is delivered in mixed ability classes (with a top set in each year band to enable our most able to be challenged) this means all students, regardless of ability or SEN, experience the same texts, are taught the same ambitious vocabulary and build on the same knowledge.  The students are supported to write their own analytical responses to texts (and their own writing inspired by the study of texts) through modelling and scaffolding in the classroom and through revisiting the same key skills across units of work (each unit having a formative and summative assessment) and across years (skills are revisited building in  complexity over time)

Each unit of work has a knowledge assessment, a vocabulary assessment as well as a skill based assessment.

Many of the key themes that influence writers go beyond their historical context:  these include morality, identity, relationships, power and conflict. We need our students to understand how these themes, rather than being restricted to the pages of dusty books, are relevant to them, the world they inhabit today and the knowledge-rich, empathetic and articulate communicators they will become.

Themes:

Morality:  the theme of morality in our literature texts looks at the distinction between right and wrong and the impact that people’s actions have on others.  In Dystopian fiction we look at how power can be exploitative & used immorally, in year 8 we look at the concept of a villain and we develop that further in year 9 by investigating the role of a tragic hero and evaluating how immoral decision making leads ultimately to their own downfall.

Relationships: As well as looking at romantic relationships, we investigate family dynamics, the notion of friendship and the relationship between those with power and those without.  We see this in the short stories studying in y7, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in year 8 and in the play studied in y9.  In addition, by looking at The Romantics, students are asked to look at the relationships between people and their environments.

Identity:  The study of literature allows us to investigate who we are and what it is in our relationships, upbringing, times we live in and culture that makes us who we are.  Students study poetry from a range of cultures in year 7, investigate monologues that reveal a disturbing voice in year 8 and learn to express the ideas that are important to them in their personal speech delivered in year 9.

Power & Conflict:  “drama is conflict” and this theme is key in a number of the texts we study.   The sense of powerlessness is key in many of the dystopian extracts studied in y7, conflict  is central to the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet, and can be applied to all of the texts studied in year 9.          

Media:

Core Purpose: Our intent: At KSA, Media studies forms part of our English department.  As such, our intent is to foster an enthusiasm, confidence and fluency in reading media texts and images which will: awaken intellectual curiosity in our learners; build their KNOWLEDGE of a wide range of forms and media products (via the set texts of the Eduqas GCSE and A level syllabus) and give them the confidence & AMBITION to find, finesse and articulate their opinions on the texts they have studied with technical accuracy whilst developing important oracy skills.

Our students should understand that all media texts have an intent behind their production (which Curran and Seaton identify as profit and power).   Students build STRENGTH in their KNOWLEDGE in order to make connections between the genres and texts they study. Students explore the historical, social and sometimes political contexts of products and the impact this may have on the representations created within them. The study of media helps students to apply a critical eye to the media-saturated wold about them developing independence and autonomy and encourages tolerance through the different representations and viewpoints reflected in media texts.

Our media curriculum is delivered in mixed ability classes. This means all students, regardless of ability or SEN, experience the same texts, are taught the same ambitious vocabulary/terminology and build on the same knowledge.  The students are supported to write their own analytical responses to texts through modelling and scaffolding in the classroom; through the explicit teaching of media terminology/vocabulary and by revisiting the same key themes across units of work (each unit having a formative and summative assessment and a knowledge and a vocabulary assessment). They also build their creative, technical and IT skills through the creation of their own media texts to a set brief as part of their NEA.

Key themes:

Media Language; Representation; Audiences and Industry.

DRAMA:

Core Purpose: Our intent: At KSA, our drama department fosters an enthusiasm, confidence and fluency in performance which will: awaken intellectual curiosity in our learners; build their KNOWLEDGE OF a wide range of classical and modern drama texts and genres; and give them the confidence & AMBITION to find, finesse and articulate their opinions on the texts they have studied writing reviews with technical accuracy.

Many of the key themes that influence writers go beyond their historical context:  these include morality, identity, relationships, power and conflict. We need our students to understand how these themes, rather than being restricted to the pages of play texts, are relevant to them, the world they inhabit today and the knowledge-rich adults they will become.

Our drama department works closely with the English department to promote the importance of vocabulary and knowledge.  Students are assessed on their ability to recall and their understanding of these alongside a skills performance assessment.

We are ambitious to build our department into a 5 year and ultimately 7 year curriculum.  This is why it is important that KS3 asks students to review the performances of others – their peers and professional productions and that we give our students an understanding of the range of roles within the theatre beyond performance.

Themes:

Morality:  the theme of morality in our drama texts looks at the distinction between right and wrong and the impact that people’s actions have on others.  In Year 8 we see this is in Greek tragedy excerpts and the fairies’ exploits in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The theme is further explored in Year 9 through the lives of the protagonists in Blood Brothers whilst considering the treatment of ‘witches’ in The Crucible.  

Relationships: As well as looking at romantic relationships, we investigate family dynamics, the notion of friendship and the relationship between those with power and those without.  We see this in the Year 7 duologue and the characters of Treasure Island.  In Year 8, the relationship between the human and fairy world is explored, whilst Year 9 sees the complexities of the familial relationships of Blood Brothers and The Crucible examined through performance and design elements.

Identity:  The study of literature allows us to investigate who we are and what it is in our relationships, upbringing, times we live in and culture that makes us who we are.  This is present in every unit in Drama as a sense of ‘self’ is vital in character development.

Power & Conflict: “drama is conflict” and this theme is key in a number of the texts we study.   The sense of powerlessness is key in Treasure Island but particularly in the Year 9 texts.          

Key Stage 3
 
Year 7 Short Stories
Cultural Poetry
Dystopian Fiction
Shakespeare and the Tempest
Treasure Island
   
Year 8 Modern Play
Villains and Dickens
Disturbed Voices Poetry
Romeo and Juliet
The Gothic, with Frankenstein
   
Year 9 Drama
Shakespearean Tragedy
The Romantics
Spoken Language
The Novel
   
Key Stage 4
 
Year 10  
Power & Conflict Poetry Anthology
An Inspector Calls
A Christmas Carol
Macbeth
   
Year 11 Language papers 1 and 2
Review and development of Literature texts studied in year 10

 

Media

In Media we intend to help students to become discerning consumers of a range of media products, with the ability to recognise the ways in which the media manipulates the consumer. Our students develop their analytical skills whilst investigating how and why media texts are constructed in order to create “profit and power”.  The impact on audiences is also explored across a range of different media platforms. They will also develop their practical skills to create realistic media products responding to an industry style brief.

Key Stage 4
 
Year 10 Exploring media language and representation through:
Magazines
Film posters
Newspapers
Advertisements
 
Exploring industry and audiences through:
Newspapers
Film
Radio
Video games
   
Year 11 Understanding media firms and products
Television drama
Music videos
 
Coursework project, responding to a set brief

For more detailed information of the core content covered in this subject for each year group, please access the Knowledge Organisers here:

Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) 
Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11)