English
KS4 Intent Statement
Provision for all students
We aim to offer a rich and diverse curriculum which is comprehensive and appropriately challenging with several pathways for students of differing abilities, so all students have the opportunity and support to be successful in English. We aim to meet the needs of all learners on all pathways from Entry Level Functional Skills, Functional Skills Level 1 and Level 2 and GCSE. The programmes are carefully tailored to meet the students’ varied needs and strengths and are centred on their interests to maximise engagement. Teaching builds on prior learning and experiences, helping to support the acquisition of skills and knowledge, enabling students to become fluent in their speaking and writing. Students are also encouraged to read for both information and pleasure so that they become lifelong readers. Our curriculum is informed by the national curriculum and aims to be broad and ambitious and exposes students to a range of fiction and non-fiction texts from the 19th-21st century.
Planning and sequencing towards cumulative knowledge and skills
We use a stepped approach in order to maximise students' accreditation, as and when the students are ready. The planning is informed from assessment and evaluation. Assessment is used to identify appropriate pathways, to measure progress and identify areas for development. Operating with a spiral curriculum model, we provide frequent opportunities to embed knowledge, skills and understanding. This also supports students who may join us after the start of the academic year, by periodically filling in gaps in students’ learning. Teaching sequences are carefully structured to ensure progress and the accumulation of skills needed for the next stage of their learning and life
Acquisition and independent application of knowledge, skills and abilities
Learning is differentiated and adapted for students of different abilities and pathways.In partnership with the Maths department, we have designed a themed curriculum, tailored for SEMH pupils. The themed curriculum helps maximise their engagement and progress. Students are taken on trips to various locations across London to enrich their cultural capital and enhance their social skills. Students are involved in the decision making for trips, including venues and budgeting. Importance is placed on student voice so they feel their contributions and opinions have value. This benefits student wellbeing. We also create a classroom environment in which students feel valued and safe to take risks with their learning, working with greater independence and confidence. We offer regular opportunities, at every level, for students to demonstrate and apply their knowledge, understanding and skills independently.
Accreditation pathways and preparation for Education, Employment, Training and adult life
We offer Functional Skills Entry Level and Level 1 & 2 to GCSE Grades 1-9. Success in English is conducive to future success in adult life. Fluency in speaking, reading and writing gives students a toolkit to articulate themselves in the wider world. We endeavour to provide a stimulating and enriching curriculum, maintaining high expectations and increasing students' cultural capital. It is our hope that the English curriculum will assist students in becoming fully participating and productive members of society.
KS3 Intent Statement
Provision for all students
The KS3 English curriculum is designed to meet the requirements of the revised 2014 National Curriculum, and to prepare students for accreditation in GCSE and/or Functional Skills. It is framed by the CCfL Curriculum Intent Statement with a clear aim to provide all students with an engaging and aspirational curriculum offer, tailored to their individual needs and abilities, that fully prepares them for long term success in work, study and life.The curriculum offer is differentiated to provide challenge and support so that all students can progress and achieve. Students who have progressed less quickly than expected, or have gaps in their knowledge, skills and understanding, and cannot, therefore access the more complex unit materials, study the unit texts and materials best matched to their needs. A small minority of students with extremely complex needs may not be able to access the set curriculum. In these cases, students are provided with an individualised programme of study, drawn up in consultation with SEN lead staff. Students with higher baseline levels access and engage with a broad range of text types, exploring and responding to these in-depth.
Planning and sequencing towards cumulative knowledge and skills
Curriculum content is carefully mapped from autumn to summer to take students on a planned journey across different literary forms and conventions in reading, writing and spoken language. The course of study is broad so that students’ entitlement to study a rich and wide curriculum offer is fully met. They begin their course of study each autumn learning the more familiar and accessible English material in creative reading and writing units, and progress through the year to the less familiar poetry and drama units in the summer term. This sequence is designed to develop students’ confidence and abilities, encourage resilience and promote a real love of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Acquisition and independent application of knowledge, skills and abilities
The curriculum is presented as a spiral, sequenced offer, organised to ensure that students acquire, re-visit, consolidate and can apply independently over time, the knowledge and skills they need to progress beyond their starting points, and achieve in line with their potential. The texts, topics and concepts studied are progressively more complex from year 7 to year 9 in each unit of work, so that students are enabled to grapple with increasingly challenging themes, thoughts and ideas as they progress through the Key Stage. All units are differentiated to facilitate access and progression for student across the ability range.
Accreditation pathways and preparation for EET and adult life
The KS3 English curriculum offer prepares students for accreditation from Functional Skills Entry Level 1 to Level 2 and for GCSE grades 1-9. Skills success criteria at each level are shared with students and used to inform planning and delivery. Skills maps ensure that progress can be tracked and shared with students so that they fully understand what they can do well and what they need to do next in order to progress further. Baseline testing identifies students’ subject specific strengths and areas for development, ensuring they are placed on appropriate pathways.
