English Blog

Spring Term

Key Stage 3

This term’s focus will be non-fiction texts and we will be developing our reading skills up until February half-term. We are reading Going Solo by Roald Dahl, which has certainly been beating the January blues and making us all laugh! We have been identifying the features of an autobiography, learning how to summarise, and selecting evidence from the text.

Key Stage 4

KS4 are also focusing on non-fiction texts but we have been using past exam papers and extracts from different types of non-fiction texts. We have been discussing and building our understanding of different writer’s viewpoints and perspectives, analysing language,  and summarising differences between texts. We are also tackling the skill of comparing and contrasting viewpoints and perspectives.

Autumn Term

Key Stage 3

The younger students in Key Stage 3 have been reading Holes by Louis Sachar. We have been exploring the themes of friendship, adventure, morality and race. We have been working on reading comprehension skills, building vocabulary and understanding how writers develop characters. 

The older students in Key Stage 3 have been reading the Royal Shakespeare Company play script of Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. This has really captured their attention and imagination. They have been really enjoying performing the script in class whilst discussing important issues such as race, discrimination, apartheid, friendship, justice and terrorism. We have also started to explore skills in language and structure analysis, evaluation and inference. 

All students in Key Stage 3 are now working on their own creative writing and we are developing 5 part short stories this half term. We will also work on vocabulary and grammar including sentence structure. 

Key Stage 4

KS4 have been developing the skills required for GCSE Paper 1 which is based on fiction and creative writing. We have been developing our language analysis skills using extracts from the books we are reading as a whole class. Some students have been reading Animal Farm by George Orwell and exploring politics, revolution, government, totalitarianism and historical context. The rest of Key Stage 4 have been reading the Royal Shakespeare Company play script of Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. They have been really engaged in this text and we have been really enjoying performing the script in class whilst discussing important issues such as race, discrimination, apartheid, friendship, justice and terrorism. Key Stage 4 students have all been building exam skills in language analysis, structural analysis and evaluation. 

All students in Key Stage 4 are now working on their own creative writing in preparation for GCSE exams. We are developing planning skills and writing 5 part short stories this half term. 

Summer Term

Key Stage 3

We are continuing to explore the big ideas of Gothic and Ghost Stories in KS3. We started the Spring term by writing our own ghost stories using gothic conventions. We used these stories to develop planning and narrative writing skills whilst building our vocabulary.

We then moved on and explored some poetry. All of the poems we explored had some link to gothic conventions, ghosts and death. The most popular poems that KS3 analysed were Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

Key Stage 4

KS4 have been developing the skills required for GCSE Paper 2 which is based on non-fiction writing and writer’s viewpoints and perspectives. We have been developing our language analysis skills using extracts from texts and our transactional writing skills. Some students have been working towards GCSE English Literature and have completed a study of the Power and Conflict poetry anthology. We have also been working on essay writing skills in preparation for the Summer exams.

Autumn Term 

Key Stage 3 

The big idea or theme in KS3 this year is Gothic and Ghost Stories. We started the Autumn term by looking at literary non-fiction texts about ghosts and haunted houses. We used these stories to develop planning and non-fiction writing skills using different formats and text types such as diary entries and letters.  

We have recently started studying the Frankenstein play script by Philip Pullman. We have done research into Mary Shelley’s life and scientific discovery in the 19^th Century. We are focusing on how a drama script is different from a novel or a story and have been designing costumes and sets for the play. Additionally, we have been exploring what makes a monster and looking at similarities between Frankenstein’s monster and Edward Scissorhands.  

Key Stage 4 

KS4 have been developing the skills required for GCSE Paper 1 which is based on fictional writing. We have been developing our language analysis skills using extracts from texts and our creative writing skills.  We have also started preparing for the Functional Skills Reading exams. Some students have started working towards GCSE English Literature as well. We have completed a study of Animal Farm by George Orwell and have started reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.