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KS4 English

For English, we will achieve this by ensuring: That all UTC Leeds students are equipped with the skills to communicate and comprehend ideas coherently and clearly, enabling them to access the college curriculum and have a wider knowledge and appreciation of the world in which they live.

Overview

All students in years 10 and 11 study English Language and most students also study English Literature. English is valued extremely highly at our college, with the pivotal role that English plays in preparing students for the world of work being recognised by all staff, the employers that we work with and our university colleagues. Across Key Stage 4, English fosters and develops students’ creativity and ingenuity, two employability skills typified by successful engineers. The focus in the English curriculum is on mastering academic and creative writing, the importance of accurate and articulate communication in both writing and speaking, and the powers of analysis through the study of a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Students who do not gain a 4 in English at the end of year 11 will re-sit English Language GCSE in year 12/13, following the course described below.

Our English curriculum is broken down into ‘non-negotiables’ – the vital areas that a student needs to master in that subject. These non-negotiables underpin the learning throughout the duration of the study and our students understand that after developing competency in each strand, they will aim to develop mastery in each. The learning is coherently sequenced across the 4-year plan and mapped cross-curricular, and our sequence of learning plans specifies which non-negotiables are the learning foci and/or the knowledge that students will gain.

English Language GCSE

Exam Board: AQA

Year 10

Students learn how to:

  • Write imaginatively and accurately for different purposes
  • Analyse fiction and non-fiction extracts, commenting on:
    • Implicit and explicit meanings
    • Language usage
    • Structural features
    • Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives
    • Inferences
    • Evaluation of texts

Students will develop these skills across a range of topics and genres from 19th century excerpts to modern day. Students will also learn and practise how to give impressive and coherent presentations.

Year 11

Students develop, refine and master the skills practised in year 10, becoming more fluent and adept writers, more confident and articulate speakers and more analytical and evaluative readers. The curriculum is structured to allow repetition of key skills and revision of prior content, with a focus on perfecting literacy skills, particularly spelling, punctuation and grammar. Students are afforded regular routine opportunities and edit and re-draft their work, taking ownership for improving their own performance following feedback from their teachers.

English Literature GCSE*

*Some students in KS4 may take English Language only to support their progress

Exam Board: AQA

Year 10

Students study the following set texts in their entirety:

  • Power and Conflict poetry (15 poems from Romantic era to modern)
  • Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
  • Jekyll and Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Students will learn key analytical skills in studying each text, learning how language, form and structure contributes to creating meanings. Students will assess the impact of historical context on literature and identify the key messages that texts deliver and the impact that texts from different time periods have on audiences and readers.

Year 11

Students study the following set texts in its entirety:

  • An Inspector Calls

Students will also learn how to discuss, analyse and evaluate an unseen poem and how to compare poems to each other.

Students will develop the key skills learnt in year 10, and hone their exam writing technique, focusing on academic analytical writing. Students will develop their approach to literary texts, particularly focusing on how to give relevant multiple interpretations.

All set texts studied across the two years will be externally examined at the end of year 11.

Step Up to English ELC

For students who take extra English rather than an option subject

Year 10

This qualification is designed to support those students who need further help accessing the GCSE English curriculum. The course develops students’ writing of non-fiction as well as story writing, and asks students to read and understand short texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st century. All students who take this course continue to do English Language GCSE. The Step Up to English course aids students in understanding the requirements of the GCSE. There are three assessments, all of which are completed in class:

  • One narrative writing
  • One non-fiction writing
  • One reading task

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