English

Staffing In English

The English Department is a stable and supportive team of 12 teachers who are committed to the success, achievement and personal development of all of the pupils that they teach. The teaching team includes Ms Pitt, Ms Pattman, Ms Jackson, Ms Kimouche, Ms Sullivan, Mr Ryan, Mr Thomas, Ms Merrifield, Ms Ali, Ms Haque, Ms Gillespie and Mr Quick.

Aims of The Department

Our vision is that all learners of English strive to achieve their potential as a result of high quality learning and teaching in an environment that is stimulating, dynamic, safe and inclusive.

In 2011 61% of pupils achieved A*-C grades in their English Language GCSE and 68% achieved a C or above in English Literature. In this respect, our objective is to focus on raising the attainment a number of sub-groups within our school community. In particular, these include white British pupils and pupils who join the school on National Curriculum Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5.

Whilst we are confident that the quality of teaching in our department ranges largely from good to outstanding, we continually develop our ability to plan effectively using data to improve this further. We also hold weekly departmental training sessions to improve learning and teaching in the team. During this academic year we intend to continue to formalise our assessment and marking cycle so that it is more consistent across the department.

We aim to develop the school Library into a resource that will support pupils’ learning and their development into effective, independent learners and readers. ‘Accelerated Reader’ software is being used by Year 8 pupils. This is a package that tests pupils’ reading ability, gives suggestions of books to read and then tests them on the books that they have read. This has been successful in raising reading levels of pupils in other schools across the country - sometimes up to 2 levels in a year.

Literacy remains a whole school focus, and this will be developed further this year as part of the personalised learning and cross-curricular provision. This includes alternative pathways and partnerships, which prepares pupils for progression to further education, employment and training. English is central to the promotion of literacy skills. We know the importance of literacy within society, particularly the employment market, and thus we endeavour to ensure that pupils are fully literate by the time they leave school. With this in mind, we offer a curriculum that is balanced in terms of reading, writing and speaking and listening. The Teacher in Charge of English is also the whole-school literacy coordinator and has been involved in a number of initiatives designed to improve literacy among target groups. She has worked in conjunction with the EAL department to deliver training to colleagues in other departments.

Pupil feedback is essential to the development of the curriculum. We conduct bi-annual pupil voice interviews and this provides us with feedback about the curriculum and helps us to decide on changes and improvements that need to be made. The latest pupil voice interviews suggest that pupils are broadly happy with the curriculum but still find poetry and Shakespeare difficult to master, so these remain areas for development.

As part of our strategy to create opportunities for all pupil groups to be actively involved in the school, the English Department runs a programme for Literacy Leaders, whereby Year 9 pupils support Year 8 pupils to develop their reading and writing skills. In addition, we engage pupils in various aspects of cultural diversity during Diversity Week. We utilise pupils in extra-curricular events, such as Open Evenings, and they play a key role in representing the school to the wider community. Last year, a number of pupils took part in a Borough-wide debating competition in which one of our Year 10 pupils came second. We have also been involved in the Carnegie Award with other schools and we hope to develop that further this academic year. Moreover, our Advanced Skills Teacher has developed links with a local care home and she takes pupils to visit the elderly there to do some project work. Coupled with this, members of the care home have been invited to Cumberland School to watch events such as the school show.

English Functional Skills exams have been introduced in Year 9. Functional Skills help pupils to increase their capacity for independent learning, and give pupils practical experience of teamwork and the presentation and assessment of ideas which will be essential when they move into the world of work. We try to make all of the assessment tasks for units of work ‘functional’ where possible.

The English Curriculum

The English Curriculum in Year 7

In Year 7 pupils study English for 4 hours a week and undertake nine units of work.

· ‘Our Day Out’ - a play by Willy Russell

· Getting to know you/autobiography

· Language Over Time and Place - study of the English Language

· Writing Skills

· Introduction to Shakespeare

· Writing to Inform, Explain and Describe

· Poetry Pioneers

· "The Iron Giant’ - study of the film

· ‘Two weeks the Queen’

· Assessment preparation and assessment

· The Spy who learnt English

The English Curriculum in Year 8

In Year 8 pupils study English for 3 hours a week and undertake nine units of work.

· Media - advertising, newspapers

· The Simpsons

· Dickens and ‘Oliver Twist’

· Assessment preparation and assessment

· Curiosity killed the cat -Writing to Argue, Persuade and Advise

· ‘‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ - a play by William Shakespeare

· The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

· Reading for meaning Poetry

· Going for Gold

The English Curriculum in Year 9

In Year 9 pupils study English for 4 hours a week and undertake nine units of work.

· Fly School – functional skills writing

· ‘Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime’

· ‘Stench of Kerosene/poetry from other cultures

· ‘Macbeth’ - a play by William Shakespeare

· The Murder Scene - descriptive writing

· ‘Touching the Void’ - study of a non-fiction text

· ‘East is East’

· The Language of Football

· Functional skills

The English Curriculum in Year 10

In Year 10 pupils study English for 4 hours a week and undertake eight units of work. Pupils follow AQA English Language and English Literature syllabi

· Media – Controlled Assessment for GCSE English Language

· Creative Writing = Controlled Assessment for GCSE English Language

· ‘Of Mice and Men’ - novel by John Steinbeck. For GCSE English Language Controlled Assessment and for GCSE English Literature Exam

· Spoken Language Study for GCSE English Language Controlled Assessment

· Speaking and Listening - 3 different tasks GCSE English Language Controlled Assessment

· Literature Poetry - GCSE English Literature Exam

· Shakespeare - Controlled Assessment for GCSE English Literature

· Literature Poetry Revision for Exam

The English Curriculum in Year 11

In Year 11 pupils study English for 4 hours a week and undertake five units of work.

· ‘An Inspector Calls’ - a play by JB Priestly for GCSE English Literature Exam

· Developing analysis of non-fiction for GCSE English Language Exam

· Developing Writing Skills for GCSE English Language Exam

· Revising ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘An Inspector Calls’ for GCSE English Literature Exam

· Revising reading and writing skills for GCSE English Language Exam

Assessment for Learning

Assessment is central to our pupils’ learning and progress. The focus of written and oral feedback is to inform pupils and provide them with a clear understanding of how well they have gained knowledge, concepts and skills and then explain what needs to be done to further meet the learning objectives. Our aim is to ensure that pupils work is marked regularly and in such a way that it improves their learning and builds self-esteem. The English department assesses learning in 3 areas: Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening

Books are marked weekly, with detailed comments given to pupils every 3 weeks. Teachers give pupils a chance to act on the changes that they have suggested so that they can see how to improve their work. Furthermore, at the end of each unit of work, pupils will be given a formal assessment task, usually a controlled assessment or an essay, which will be awarded a National Curriculum level or GCSE grade.

We take every opportunity to discuss pupils’ strengths and areas for develop, both formally and informally, as we believe that this is central to helping them to progress in their learning.

The English department sets homework every week, and these tasks should be directly related to the pupil learning in class.

Aside from marking, we also use many opportunities during lesson time to ensure that pupils are actively engaged and that they both understand the learning and can apply this to their own work.

Attainment In Our Department

Results at end of Key Stage 3 (Level 5+)

	2009	2010	2011
Level 5+	68%	72%	69%

Results at end of Key Stage 4 (A*-C)

	2009	2010	2011
GCSE	42%	46%	61%

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English - Cumberland School

English