English at Sandymoor Ormiston Academy
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking” Haruki Murakami
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader” Margaret Fuller
Key Stage 3 Curriculum
The Key Stage 3 English curriculum richly combines language and literature, the importance of storytelling and making sense of the world. Students study a range of texts from ancient civilization through to modern day, entwining a range of themes, such as morality, romance, empathy, tragedy and the human condition. Students are taken on a journey to develop their skills of argument and persuasion, oracy and development of vocabulary, and the power of the written word.
Key Stage 4 English
Year 10 is the start of the 2 year voyage that ends with GCSE examinations in English Language and English Literature. Our curriculum is specifically tailored to ensure our students achieve their full potential in examinations set by AQA, click here for exam board information.
The texts studied as part of the GCSE course are:
Characters and themes studied at Key Stage 3 form an excellent foundation as students move on to deepen their understanding of English Literature and Language.
As part of the English Language GCSE, students will further develop their ability to present their thoughts as a spoken argument and articulate their own perspective of any topic of choice. Developing confident and lively debates is encouraged.
British Values, SMSC and Cultural Capital
When studying English many challenging, moral and ethical issues are explored and it is important we recognise the emotive nature of some of the material studied. For this reason lessons take place with an ethos of empathy, compassion and mutual respect for all.
Carefully considered text choices promote the exploration of many social and moral issues. For example, Things Fall Apart considers cultures on the verge of change and the impact of colonialism in Africa.
Historic and contemporary views of Britain are explored through Romantic poetry, Shakespearean plays and texts from various cultures. Authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Susan Hill are studied as well as speeches by Martin Luther King and Greta Thunberg.
Understanding different perspectives and respecting those with opposite views to our own is critical in modern society. We saturate our curriculum with opportunities to constructively disagree and reach a consensus as a group.
Cultural Capital opportunities such as theatre visits and productions from The Royal Shakespeare Company expose our students to a wide variety of different cultural influences.
To find out more please see our curriculum map: