KS4

Years 9 to 11:

• At KS4 (Years 9-11), all students are prepared for GCSEs in both English Language and English Literature, following the AQA syllabuses. GCSEs are now 100% exam-based. Students also complete their GCSE speaking and listening presentation / assessment in year 10.

Year 9:

In Year 9, students follow a core preparation year for GCSE whereby they experience a combination of Literature and Language units of work that build on the experiences /skills from Year 7 and 8. Students focus on developing, strengthening and extending the skills needed to become independent, successful readers and writers.

Years 10 and 11:

English Language GCSE
Exam Board: AQA 

In English lessons, students are taught the skills of communication that they need for every aspect of daily life, both in school and beyond. Lessons contain a balance of reading and writing to help them develop and apply these skills.

all tests in the exam will be unseen

English Literature GCSE
Exam Board – AQA 

English Literature is a highly valued subject by both employers and higher education institutions as it enables students to develop an understanding of themselves and of the world around them as well as honing the skills of analysis which are useful in many areas of work and education. We also think it is a highly enjoyable subject. 

• The Literature exams are ‘closed book’, i.e. students have no access to copies of the texts studied during the exams.
• All students will take the two subjects (English Language and English Literature and gain two separate GCSEs.
• Speaking and listening will also receive a separate recorded grade in the form of a pass, merit or distinction. 

Additional Support / Intervention: 

Students can receive the following interventions in English as appropriate:
• Period 0 tasks in tutor
• Morning intervention from English teachers / revision.
• Additional intervention lessons arranged for year 11.
• Compulsory period 7 introduced to support students’ learning.
• Champion’s Hour in The Learning Café 4pm -5pm to support students
• Year 11 Personalised Gap Filling (QLA) sheets created for students following a GCSE English / English Literature PPE to support them with working on areas of the exam that they need support with.
• GCSE text books/ revision guides purchased for all GCSE Literature texts- students can take these home.

Learning Platforms to support study of English / English Literature: 

GCSE Pod:
https://www.gcsepod.com/

Students have logins for this platform and can access this at home or in College.

Seneca Learning: 
Students can log into Seneca using their Google Classroom e- mail. They can access this platform at home or in College.