ENGLISH

As an English department we believe that all students should benefit from an unapologetically academic and unashamedly ambitious curriculum. Our students are encouraged to think for themselves, love literature and grow in confidence both verbally and written

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Reading and writing, the basic principles involved in the study of English, serve as the gateway to a deeper level of thought. Studying literature and observing personal reactions can make one more aware of his or her own values – there is no area of study that English and communication skills do not influence.

Module 1: A Modern Novel Study: They will focus on using their reading to inspire their own creative writing.
Module 2: The continuation of the modern novel study: They will explore empathy and improve their comprehension and analytical writing.
Module 3: Natural World Poetry – A unit where students learn the language techniques poets use and apply them in their own poetry.
Module 4: Frankenstein, The Play by Phillip Pulman, A study of the adapted Mary Shelly classic, where students analyse how the play form and structure have been used to create meaning.
Module 5: Shakespeare and the Human Condition: A study of a variety of key themes in Shakespeare to explore his continued relevance today.
Module 6: Journalism: A unit that studies journalistic writing on a variety of topics and improves students’ presentation skills.

Module 1: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness- A Modern Novel Study: This unit focuses on building empathy and understanding of grief and teaches analytical writing skills.
Module 2: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – A Modern Novel Study: This unit uses the novel as inspiration to create their own short stories.
Module 3: Structuring Narrative: This unit focuses on building students’ creative writing skills.
Module 4: The Gothic: This unit explores a range of Gothic literature, and students will analyse the stylistic conventions used.
Module 5: Poetry from other cultures: This explores different themes and ideas from other cultures through poetry. Students will improve their analytical skills and make comparisons.
Module 6: Film and Media – Jaws: This unit combines English and media skills and asks students to analyse a film sequence and present their findings.

Module 1: Everything I Never Told You by Ng: Modern Novel Study – This unit will explore many themes, especially family dynamics, and improve students’ analytical writing skills.
Module 2: Everything I Never Told You by Ng: Modern Novel Study – this unit will use inspiration from the events of the novel, and students will be asked to make a presentation on the mystery surrounding the main character.
Module 3: Life in the Modern World: Poetry – This unit will explore modern poetry and how it reflects the modern world. It will enhance students’ analytical writing.
Module 4: Night by Eli Weisel: A Holocaust non-fiction account. This unit will focus on improving students’ creative writing skills and make cross-curricular links with History.
Module 5: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: This unit explores the complex themes of family and violence in the play and builds on students’ analytical skills.
Module 6: Transactional Writing: This unit explores a range of non-fiction texts and teaches students how to write their own non-fiction.

Year 10 are studying AQA for Language and Eduquas for Literature.

Module 1: Macbeth by William Shakespeare or another Shakespeare text
Module 2: Macbeth by William Shakespeare or another Shakespeare text
Module 3: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or another 19th-century text
Module 4: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or another 19th-century text
Module 5: An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley or another modern play.
Module 6: An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley or another modern play.

Speaking and Listening Exam.

Module 1: Poetry Anthology and Unseen Poetry
Module 2: Poetry Anthology and Unseen Poetry
Module 3: Language Paper 1
Module 4: Language Paper 2
Module 5: Revision

Module 1:

Literature – Antigone
Language – Barbara Kruger’s Print Advertisement Satire & Cindy Sherman’s photography series Film Stills

This unit will focus on: Why and how do we study language and literature? How does the structure or style of a text affect meaning? How do texts offer insights and challenges?
Module 2:

Literature: The Great Gatsby

Language: Consumerism – Andy Warhol’s Pop Art & the Flake Girl and Milk Tray Man over time.

This unit will focus on: How important is cultural or historical context to the production and reception of a text? How does the meaning and impact of a text change over time? How does language represent social distinctions and identities?
Module 3:

Literature: The Great Gatsby

Language: Influential Speeches (The King’s Speech film; & famous speeches in history)

This unit will focus on: How important is cultural or historical context to the production and reception of a text? How does the meaning and impact of a text change over time? How does language represent social distinctions and identities?
Module 4:

Literature: The Stranger

Language: Political Cartoons

This unit will focus on: How can texts offer multiple perspectives of a single issue, topic or theme? In what ways can diverse texts share points of similarity? In what ways can comparison and interpretation be transformative?
Module 5:

Literature: Oryx &Crake

Language: Rape Culture & Sex Trafficking through Documentaries (The Hunting Ground & Born Into Brothels).

This unit will focus on: How do texts adhere to and deviate from conventions associated with literary forms or text types? How valid is the notion of a classic text? How do conventions and systems of reference evolve over time?
Module 6:

Literature: Oryx & Crake

Language: Scientific Journals

This unit will focus on: How do texts adhere to and deviate from conventions associated with literary forms or text types? How valid is the notion of a classic text? How do conventions and systems of reference evolve over time?

Module 1: Literature: The World’s Wife

Language: Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party

This unit will explore: How do we approach texts from different times and cultures to our own? To what extent do texts offer insight into another culture? How do texts reflect, represent or form a part of cultural practices?

Module 2: Literature: Animal’s People

Language: HBO – Chernobyl TV series

This unit will explore: How are we affected by texts in various ways? In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted? How does language use vary amongst text types and amongst literary forms?

Bhopal disaster coverage
Oppenheimer film

Module 3:Literature: Animal’s People

Language: HBO – Chernobyl TV series

Bhopal disaster coverage
Oppenheimer film
Module 4: Exam Preparation
Module 5: Exam Preparation

Module 1: Unit 1 Representations
Module 2 :Unit 1 Representations
Module 3 : Unit 10 and 4 Combined
Module 4 : Unit 10 and 4 Combined
Module 5 : Unit 10 and 4 Combined
Module 6 : Unit 1 Representation

Unit 4: Pre-Production Portfolio

Purpose & Content

This unit is about the planning stage of media production: learners explore what is required to plan and deliver a digital media product.
Key areas include: finance, logistics, scheduling, risk assessment, storyboarding, location recce, shooting scripts, call sheets.
You create a portfolio of evidence that shows your understanding of the pre-production process. This might include a written report, digital documents, investigations, and annotated pre-production materials.

What students do

Investigate how media products are planned: what documentation is needed, what conventions apply, what problems can occur (e.g., budget over-runs, crew illness)
Produce pre-production materials for a specific product (in this case, the film to be made in Unit 10) — e.g., mood boards, storyboards, shot lists, scripts, production schedules.
Evaluate how effective the planning was: how the pre-production tasks contributed to delivering the product, what went well / what could be improved.

Assessment

Internally assessed (within the centre) — i.e., your teacher sets tasks, you complete the portfolio, and you are graded on a Pass, Merit, Distinction scale.
The evidence often spans both written/documentary work and digital assets (the pre-production docs).

Unit 10: Film Production – Fiction

Purpose & Content

This unit builds on the planning from Unit 4 and moves into actual production and post-production of a short narrative film (or film extract) using genre conventions.
You’ll study narrative and stylistic codes of film: how genres work, what conventions are used (e.g., for thriller, action, horror), and how camera, lighting, sound, and editing contribute.
Then you apply these: you prepare your crew/cast, shoot the film, edit it, apply sound, effects, and ensure alignment with the genre and audience.

What students do

Investigate two films in different genres, analysing how they use conventions (for Learning Aim A).
Prepare for production: using the pre-production docs (from Unit 4), organising equipment, scheduling, lighting, sound, location setup, cast/crew.
Shoot the film and complete post-production: editing the footage, applying sound design, colour grading, and ensuring the final product is aligned with the genre.
Evaluate: how well the film met its objectives, how effectively pre-production helped, what improvements could be made. (Often linked back to Unit 4 evaluation)

Assessment

Also internally assessed. The creative product (the film) plus supporting documentation (evaluation, production logs) are graded Pass/Merit/Distinction.

How Unit 4 and Unit 10 Work Together

The planning in Unit 4 feeds directly into the production in Unit 10. The quality of your pre-production documents will significantly influence how smoothly your film production goes in Unit 10. (For example: clear storyboard and shot list = smoother filming).
Unit 4 helps you understand the “what and why” of production (e.g., budgets, crew roles, risk assessment), and Unit 10 is the “doing” of production (filming, editing).
The evaluation in both units allows you to reflect not just on the final product (Unit 10) but on how your planning stage (Unit 4) influenced that final product.
Because both are internally assessed, you have control over how you structure your work, time-manage, and polish your submissions.

Unit 1: Media Representations

What the exam is

This is an on-screen exam (external) set by Pearson.
It typically lasts 2 hours and consists of a mixture of short-answer and essay questions.

What you’ll be tested on

Understanding of how media products communicate meaning: you will analyse unseen media extracts (video/clips) and discuss how techniques are used (camera, sound, editing, lighting, layout) to create meaning and representation.
Concepts of representation: how different social groups, cultures, and ideologies are represented in media, and how these representations relate to the audience, purpose, and context.
Theories and terminology: audience theory, media language, narrative, genre, codes & conventions. For example, “How does the editing in this extract contribute to meaning?”

Module 1: Unit 10 and 4 Combined
Module 2: Unit 8: Responding to a commission
Module 3 : Unit 10 and 4 combined
Module 4 : Revision
Module 5: Revision

Unit 8: “Responding to a Commission”

What the exam is

This is also an external assessment by Pearson.
The format: you’ll receive a commission brief (set by the exam board) in advance (often a pre-release period), during which you research and prepare. Then you have a supervised “exam” session where you produce responses to the brief (for example, a rationale, proposal, treatment).
In the Level 3 Extended Certificate version, the specification states that the task is marked out of 72 marks.

What you’ll be tested on

According to the specification, you need to demonstrate:

AO1: Knowledge and understanding of media production processes and considerations when responding to a brief.
AO2: Application of that knowledge in context: how constraints (budget, time, platform, audience) affect your decisions and ability to adapt.
AO3: Analyse and interpret information related to the purpose, technical/logistical requirements of the brief and evaluate solutions with justification.
AO4: Be creative in responding: show a range of ideas, synthesise them into a coherent response.

If you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail. It takes backbone to lead the life you want.
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates