English
At Highfields we believe English is the cornerstone of all learning and the foundation upon which success in all subjects is built. We aim to ensure that during their time with us our students become engaged, confident and literate learners. We strive to maximise the potential of each student and foster independence and resilience in their approach to learning, enabling them to access all aspects of their curriculum and making sure they are fully prepared for the world of work.
We are passionate about developing a culture of reading, writing and oracy within all our students through robust and rigorous curriculum that aspires to make students clear communicators in speech and writing. A love of the subject is nurtured throughout each stage of their education and builds on the vital foundations established at primary school. Their English studies are designed to enrich their learning, challenge their understanding and help them to develop mature, informed opinions of the society in which they live.
Curriculum Structure
We believe our unique curriculum structure and content in English, facilitates and underpins our outstanding results. In Key Stage 3 students are taught in 10 groups in Year 7 and 12 groups in Year 8 and Year 9. There are two top sets for more able students across all year groups. All other groups are mixed ability groups. We do not regroup Year 7 students until October half term, after a range of reading and writing assessments have been completed.
At GCSE students are taught in 12 groups consisting of two top sets, 9 parallels and a ‘little’ group of our lower achieving students, who are supported by a teacher and at least one TA. In addition to this, we create an additional smaller intervention group in Year 11 to provide targeted support for lower prior attainers or those who have significant gaps in their learning. In Year 11, students are also given targeted support in Core English interventions and AM registration interventions (see below) as well as being given a Sixth Form peer mentor who helps them with their English Literature revision in the run up to the Year 11 Mock Exam. In Years 12 and 13 English is a popular choice, often with up to forty pupils opting to study AQA A-Level English Literature in two teaching groups.
Schemes of Work and Core Texts
Our curriculum intent is implemented by a Head of Learning School, Head of English, one teacher in charge of Lower School English, two teachers with responsibility for Middle School and one in charge of Sixth Form English, as well as an outstanding department of subject specialists. This experienced, diverse and highly skilled team is made up of newly qualified staff as well as more experienced practitioners many of whom mark for exam boards at both GCSE and A-Level. One of the key strengths of our programmes of study is that we encourage innovation and creativity within a clear and focused framework. At Key Stage 3, students study units of work which cover all three areas within English (Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening) and provide a strong foundation for their GCSE studies. The schemes of learning for these programmes highlight the core GCSE objectives, substantive knowledge and outcomes to be delivered and make very clear the bigger picture or learning journey. Students are given regular opportunities to carry out peer and self- assessment to develop their understanding of these and success criteria and knowledge organisers for each component are shared, to make this process clear and focused. Target sheets for each year group give students a clear appreciation of the assessments they will complete across the year and they can see at a glance how their progress is building. Additionally, students are given regular opportunity to respond to their targets in Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time.
Students read a variety of challenging texts within class and in all years they study at least one Shakespeare play, as well as extracts from Pre 20th Century prose and poetry. Sparx Reader is used to improve reading comprehension across Key Stage 3 and reading for pleasure is built into lesson starts to ensure students are also being regularly exposed to the joy of reading. Enrichment visits to the theatre, cinema and to meet established authors are regularly offered and extra-curricular activities such as the Carnegie Medal Book Group, Sixth Form Debate Club, the HSWV Revision Podcast and this year’s newly launched writing group Lycos Publishing Group are also very popular.
At GCSE level the department follows the Eduqas Board. The vast majority of students study both Literature and Language. All teachers have access to high quality schemes of work, past papers, mark schemes, model responses and effective exemplar material in our department SharePoint which supports our culture of collaboration and sharing effectively. In addition, we continue to encourage enjoyment of and engagement with core texts through visiting theatre companies like Katch 22 and The Central Youth Theatre as well as use of audio- visual material such as AudioPi and learning platforms such as Seneca, which we feel support the retrieval of learning. Building strong working relationships between staff and pupils is central to our effective practice and we believe maintaining an ongoing dialogue between home and school is a key method of ensuring success beyond the classroom. All English teachers have an in-depth knowledge of assessment, both through their own experiences of marking for the exam boards and through the training that we facilitate to ensure our marking accuracy year on year. This ensures we are confident on how best to move pupil progress forward and underpins our outstanding outcomes at GCSE and A-Level.
The ethos of A-Level English Literature at Highfields is about building on students’ success at GCSE level and independent learning skills through regular use of VESPA strategies. A- Level English aims to widen their horizons, encourage them to become critical readers and prepare them for the challenges that further and higher education will bring. The curriculum exposes students to a wide range of academic literature set against a historicist background and encourages them to enjoy and engage with a more insightful world view. Enrichment and Cultural Capital are also essential and students are afforded opportunities to engage in university style lectures via the Massolit website and attend performances at the theatre, which bring their exam texts to life.
Support and Intervention:
We work within a strong support network of HTLA’s and Teaching Assistants, which also provides opportunities for flexible, personalised teaching strategies in the English classroom at both Key Stage 3 and 4.
Throughout KS3 we have a range of interventions to support students who struggle with literacy, for example an identified cohort of lower prior attainers study the Fresh Start programme in small groups and are reintegrated into larger English groups towards the end of Year 7, to help ease their transition into Year 8. Other students who find reading challenging, work one to one with a trained member of staff each morning completing an intervention called ‘Switch On’ aimed at improving their reading fluency. Underpinning the principal Key Stage 3 curriculum is Literacy Intervention, which is delivered across Years 8 and 9. Literacy intervention targets reading, writing and spelling and is offered to our students who enter the school with lower-than-average Key Stage 2 reading and writing scores to support and strengthen their learning and progress. At GCSE in Year 11 there is Core English, which supports identified students who are not quite attaining their target grades.
Both the Literacy and Core curriculum provide further opportunities for all students to:
Revisit and consolidate key Literacy skills that will underpin the quality of their writing.
Read challenging fiction and non-fiction (from 16th century to the present day) which encourages students to read and develop Cultural Capital, interrogate the views of society and explore their imagination.
Develop creative and analytical writing skills so that students can express themselves precisely, accurately, and in detail.
Strengthen their oracy and communication skills, vital for success in the working world.
Learning Spaces
The Communications Learning School has two dedicated Learning Resource Centres on the floor. One has been developed for Years 7 to 10 and the other Year 11 and Sixth Form to support their independent study skills. They both contain a wide range of texts, fiction and non- fiction and pupils are encouraged to borrow texts for enjoyment and to support their learning. Many students use these areas before and after school as a quiet working area. What is more, all pupils have their own laptops and the new technology within the school is central to our teaching and helps to prepare the students for the demands of 21st century life. Whilst most teaching takes place in classrooms on the top floor, the new school offers a range of teaching areas, including open space areas, LRC, the Lyceum and Lecture Theatre and English staff make full use of these facilities. This diversity enables opportunities for team teaching and one –one learning. This collaborative approach to teaching has helped to develop consistently outstanding teaching and learning across the department.
Subject Curriculum Overview
English (KS3)