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English (Key Stage 3)

Intent

We aim to provide students with a curriculum that is engaging, challenging and spiraling whilst we study a range of texts that have shaped our world. Students will learn to identify and explore the impact of language, structure and context within a range of texts, varied by purpose, genre and form. Students will develop their own written voice, exercising variation of sentence structures and interesting vocabulary. Furthermore, the training of written accuracy prioritises grammatical and technical precision, developing expression and tone for the purposed aim and audience. 

Students will be able to read, interpret and infer, establishing their own impressions and opinions. We want our students to be able to nurture critical thinking, widening their perspectives and uncovering both explicit and implicit meanings. 

We have developed a ‘spiral curriculum’ where core knowledge is carefully mapped to ensure it is regularly revised and revisited so students can apply it in new contexts and thus deepen and refine their understanding. 

Year 7

Focus

AutumnSpringSummer
4 x Oliver Twist – Literary Heritage lessons focusing on analysing language and understanding of the Victorian context.4 x A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Introduction to Shakespeare and the Elizabethan/Jacobean era.
Developing analytical writing skills.		 4 x Poetry and metaphors – Introduction to the study of poetry and devices used in poems.
3 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise and application in extended writing pieces (Workbook 2).3 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise and application in extended writing pieces  (Workbook 2).3 x Creative writing lessons – using mastery knowledge to work towards writing a short story of their own.
2 x Drama lessons linked to Oliver Twist, introducing core drama skills to students.2 x Drama lessons2 x Drama lessons
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight, focusing on non-fiction texts.1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight, focusing on non-fiction texts.
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight focusing on non-fiction texts.

Year 8

Focus

AutumnSpringSummer
4 x Sherlock Holmes – Literary Heritage lessons focusing on studying 3 key stories. Students will develop language analysis and understanding of the Victorian context.4 x The Tempest- Literary Heritage lessons focusing on developing knowledge of Shakespeare. 5 x Animal Farm – Literary Heritage lessons focusing on studying 3 key stories. Students will develop language analysis and understanding of the Victorian context.

7 x Rhetoric unit – Writing speeches to be performed and assessed in class. Focus on understanding ethos, pathos and logos to be excellent orators.
3 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise, planning and writing in different story genres and re-drafting stories (Workbook 3).3 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise, planning and writing in different story genres and re-drafting stories (Workbook 3).2 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise, planning and writing in different story genres and re-drafting stories (Workbook 3).
2 x Drama lessons linked to Sherlock Holmes, introducing core drama skills to students.2 x Drama lessons linked to The Tempest introducing core drama skills to students.4 x Drama lessons linked to Animal Farm (play version), introducing core drama skills to students.
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight, focusing on non-fiction texts.1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight focusing on non-fiction texts.
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight, focusing on non-fiction texts.

Year 9

Focus

AutumnSpringSummer
4 x Jane Eyre – Literary Heritage lessons. Students will develop language analysis and look at drafting thesis statements as well as consolidating understanding the Victorian context.4 x Comparative poetry – Literary Heritage lessons. Students will learn how to compare two poems and
become familiar with GCSE style questions.		 4 x An Inspector Calls (Bridging unit to English Literature GCSE)
3 x Writing Mastery lessons – deliberate SPaG practise, planning and writing in different story genres and re-drafting stories (Workbook 3).3 x Writing Mastery lessons – students will be mastering how to write opinion non-fiction pieces (Workbook 4).3 x Reading for Study (Bridging unit to English Language GCSE)
2 x Drama lessons studying the play ‘Small Island’.2 x Drama lessons focused on ‘Inspirational Women’.2 x Drama lessons linked to An Inspector Calls
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library
per fortnight focusing on non-fiction texts.		1 x Reading for pleasure lesson in the library per fortnight focusing on non-fiction texts.
1 x Reading for pleasure lesson

Enrichment Opportunities

  • Writing Club
  • Reading Club
  • Dungeons & Dragons
  • Choir
  • Reading for Pleasure
  • School Newspaper

Useful Links/Websites

Oliver Twist: I.E. Chadwick: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Sherlock Holmes – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) | Starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce | HD

Oxford Owl for School and Home

KS3 English – BBC Bitesize

Playlists

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

The Oldershaw School
Valkyrie Road, Wallasey
Wirral CH45 4RJ
T: 0151 638 2800 E: schooladmin@oldershawschool.co.uk Executive Headteacher: Mr S Fisher