Key Stage Three Overview
Course Description
During Key Stage Three students encounter a wide variety of texts from non-fiction texts to well-known fiction in the form of poetry, prose and drama. At WGSA we aim to develop a culture of reading for pleasure and students regularly read in lesson.
Throughout Key Stage Three students will encounter different styles and purposes for writing; our emphasis is always on developing accuracy and an awareness of audience. Punctuation and grammar skills are taught systematically, highlighted regularly, and woven into all aspects of English lessons. Regular and well-planned support allows for small group and 1:1 literacy catch-up class to provide further support for those who need it.
Spoken language skills are integral to students learning in English and form part of every lesson through whole class, group and paired discussions, drama work and formal presentations. At WGA we aim to build on our students’ confidence, allowing them to leave us able to speak fluently and articulately, whilst also listening and responding to their peers.
In Year 7, students study three termly units that cover a range of reading and writing skills. In the autumn term, students start by studying Myths and Legends, a unit designed to build on their foundations of knowledge of cultural capital and skills in English. Following this students then move on to study the History of Language in the spring term, as part of this study students looks at the evolution of language, writing skills, thematic issues and wider literary texts. Alongside this unit in the spring term, students also study the world of activism, studying a range of influential and important speeches and building their own ideas and perspectives. Finally, in summer, students begin to explore the world of Shakespeare before studying Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In Year 8, in the autumn term, students delve into the world of the Gothic, exploring the conventions of the genre through a range of extracts across the ages. In the spring term students develop their understanding and appreciation of literary texts and cultural capital through the Art of Rhetoric. Students spend the summer term studying Journeys, along with a range of texts linked thematically around the theme of travel and identity.
In Year 9, students develop and hone the skills needed to be successful English GCSE candidates. In the autumn term, students focus on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, encouraging students to empathise and understand how love and relationships have developed across the ages and spanning Literature. Students then move on to looking at the Human Condition and the study of dystopian literature, reading The Hunger Games. The summer term acts as a transition between year 9 and 10 and focuses on the discovery of personal voice through a range of relevant poetry focused on the theme of conflict, culminating in a GCSE style piece of non-fiction writing and spoken language presentation.
Assessments
Students’ work is continuously formatively assessed throughout the term, within the English department this can take many guises: feed up, WAGOLLS (What a Good One Looks Like), code marking, peer and self-assessment. Summative assessments are conducted termly and focus on a range of skills learnt during the term.