Overview:

At Salendine Nook, the English department aims to encourage children to be perceptive and critical readers, writers and thinkers. We teach through an engaging, varied and collaborative curriculum. We believe that studying English is central to the development of thoughtful, articulate young people who are aware of themselves as part of a wider community, and a pluralistic world. English not only underpins students’ studies across the entire school curriculum, but is vital in ensuring students are equipped with necessary skills in comprehension, reading and writing.  

Across Key Stage Three, our schemes of work have been planned to deliver the National Curriculum in a way that is stimulating and thought provoking. Students are offered every opportunity to demonstrate creativity and originality whether that be in reading, writing or through spoken language. Every year, students study a range of poetry, a novel, a play and 20th/21st Century writing that incorporate many relevant social, cultural and philosophical topics. We strive to ensure our students acquire the necessary skills and harness a love for English that they can build upon in later years.  

At Key Stage Four, we examine with AQA. Students will acquire two GCSEs by the end of their studies: English Language and English Literature. Currently, students study the following texts for Literature: Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, A Christmas Carol, Unseen Poetry and a variety of poems from the AQA Power and Conflict poetry cluster.  

Through clubs such as Creative Writing Club, Debate Club, Carnegie Reading and the student-led School Newspaper, the English team passionately contributes to the wider curriculum at Salendine Nook High School. Whether students are interested in creative writing, journalism or voicing their opinion, there are exciting opportunities for all. 

Key Stage 3

A high-quality English curriculum should inspire in students a passion for reading, writing and speaking that will empower them to understand the world around them, building on what they have learned at primary school. At Salendine Nook High School our teaching is designed to be clear, stimulating and accessible for every student.  Throughout Key Stage 3, students can expect to be challenged and engage with texts covering a wide range of themes and issues – philosophical and societal. The English department’s aim is to develop every student’s ability to use and interpret English successfully, effectively and imaginatively. 

 Students are assessed rigorously throughout and are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and development. In addition, we expect students to become confident readers of high quality literature and to read for pleasure as well as for knowledge. 

 Our English curriculum will: 

• Be exciting with great literature at its heart 
• Focus on sustained progress not rapid progress (Didau) 
• Capitalise on what students already know, building on prior learning and enabling revisiting of concepts 
• Be designed around how students learn, applying the principles of up-to-date pedagogical research 
• Deliver grammar discretely to reach a basic competency (Christadoulou) 
• Embed a ‘grammar for writing’ approach (Myhill) 
• Fulfill the requirements of the new NC 
• Prepare students for progression to KS4 

Year 7: 

• Transition Unit 
  English Language Study -Fiction 
• Novel Study 
• Drama – Frankenstein 
• English Language Study – Non-Fiction 
• Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night’s Dream 
• Poetry – The World Out There 

Year 8: 

• English Language Study – Fiction 
• Shakespeare – The Tempest 
• English Language Study – Non-Fiction 
• Poetry – Best Before 
• Novel Study 
• Drama – Blood Brothers