‘Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.’ Edwin Whipple
Curriculum Intent
The English Department strives to inspire an appreciation for the English language and its literature, and to cultivate its effective use in creative expression and day-to-day life. As a department we encourage intellectual independence by stressing creative, critical thinking combined with informed reading and interpretation. The English Department team seek to teach language and literature from a range of perspectives while developing inquiring, knowledgeable and independent young learners.
At Key Stages 3, 4 and 5, we have a varied and diverse curriculum that allows our students to improve their literacy skills as well as develop the skills of reflection, resilience and resourcefulness.
Key Stage 3 English
Help and Guidance for Students – Booklets
Please ask students to show you the help and guidance booklet. This should always be in their red book. They should use this to help with homework and classwork.
St Bonaventure’s English Department KS3 Curriculum
Year 7
Term 1.1 to 1.2 Transition to KS3: Prose fiction and short stories: reading and writing
Term 1.2 Drama: studying Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' through drama, reading and speaking
Term 2.1 Verse: Introduction to Poetry - 'Dealing with Change'
Term 2.2 to 3.1 Novel study:'The Other Side of Truth' by Beverley Naidoo: reading, writing, and essay-writing
Term 3.1 to 3.2 Non-fiction speech writing: The Art of Rhetoric: reading, writing and speaking
Core Skills Whole Year Revision and practice of grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and sentencing for writing
Year 8
Term 1.1 to 1.2 Prose and Verse Fiction: Gothic -Literature - Reading and writing gothic short stories
Term 1.2 Novel study:'Coram Boy' by Jamila Gavin reading, writing, and essay-writing
Term 2.1 to 2.2 Non-fiction: Truth is Stranger than Fiction - Reading and writing creative non-fiction
Term 2.2 to 3.1 Verse: Poetry Around the World
Term 3.1 to 3.2 Drama and Verse: Women in Shakespeare - through reading, drama and speaking
Core Skills Whole Year Deliberate practice in reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and sentencing
Year 9
Term 1.1 to 1.2 Prose, Non-Fiction and Verse: Age of Imperialism -18th-19th Century Literature - Reading and Creative Writing
Term 1.2 to 2.1 Drama: 'A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller - Studying a whole literature text to prepare for GCSE English Literature and mastering essay-writing
Term 2.2 to 3.1 Non-fiction: Writer's Viewpoints and Perspectives - Reading and writing opinion pieces
Term 3.1 to 3.2 Year 9 Exam Prep and Revision
The Dystopian Genre, Creative Writing and ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry
Term 3.2 GCSE English Language and English Literature Taster Lessons
Core Skills Whole Year Deliberate practice in reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and sentencing
Homework Set on Bromcom. This must be completed at the back of the students’ red book.
Self-assessment Students should should always self-assess the quality of their work using the Help and Guidance booklet resources
Assessments These should always be tagged to the back of their book.
Assessments include reading skills, writing skills, spoken skills, knowledge tests and synoptic exams.
Reading Students should be reading often, ideally every evening.
Key Stage 3 Recommended Reading
- Year 7 Reading List
- Recommended Reading List
- Gothic and horror fiction
- Texts that will make you cry
- Texts that will make you laugh
- Historical fiction
- Dystopian and science fiction
- Texts set in London
- Texts where the main character is not human
- Texts with a heroine
- Texts with a mystery that needs to be solved
- Texts full of magic
- Texts that are part of a series
- Graphic novels and comic books
Key Stage 4 English: GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature
As part of their two-year KS4 course at St Bonaventure’s, pupils study towards GCSEs in English Language and English Literature under the combined theme of Power and Conflict. We teach the AQA syllabus:
GCSE English Literature Specification at a Glance
GCSE English Language Specification at a Glance
For English Language GCSE, pupils study fiction and non-fiction texts.
For English Literature GCSE, pupils study the play An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley OR Animal Farm by George Orwell, poems from the AQA Poetry Anthology ‘Power and Conflict’, Unseen Poetry, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Shakespeare’s Macbeth OR The Merchant of Venice.
Revision and Homework
What students must be doing for English revision – student and parent information
- We model how to revise English in lessons.
- Students complete revision tasks in lesson and are expected to continue this revision independently.
- Teachers set revision as homework.
- Revision materials are printed for students and used in lessons – see below.
GCSE English Revision Materials Supplied
Students are given a printed copy of the below help and revision resource booklets, or his teacher has shared them using our shared Google drive or Google Classroom. These contain help, guidance, example marked answers and practice exam questions.
English Literature Revision Materials
Practice Exam Questions Literature Paper 1 (The Merchant of Venice)
OR Practice Exam Questions Literature Paper 1 (Macbeth)
Practice Exam Questions Booklet 2 – Literature Paper 2 (currently being updated)
English Language Revision Materials
Language Paper 1 Section A Booklet
Language Paper 1 Section B Booklets
Language Paper 2 Section A Booklet
Language Paper 2 Section B Booklet
Year 11 students are given a GCSE Revision Timetable to make copy of and edit. This is for all subjects. Students should add their English Language and English Literature revision tasks to this timetable.
Key Stage 5 English Literature A Level
Students study a range of literature texts, including poetry, plays and novels, developing their analytical and critical responses to these texts. They follow the OCR syllabus, and the link to the specification is provided on this page.
Component 1: Hamlet, A Doll’s House and The Poetry of Christina Rossetti
Component 2: Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Handmaid’s Tale
Component 3: Small Island and Translations, The poetry of Langston Hughes, Fatimah Asghar, Sylvia Plath, Sujata Bhatt and Derek Walcott
Wider Reading
The Time Machine [1895] by H.G. Wells
The Machine Stops [1909] by E.M. Forster
We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley
The Day of the Triffids [1951] by John Wyndham
Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury – could be read in a couple of sittings
I am Legend (1954) by Richard Matheson – could be read in a couple of hours
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1954] by Jack Finney
A Clockwork Orange [1962] by Anthony Burgess
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K Dick
Children of Men (1992) by P.D. James
The Road (2006) by Cormac McCarthy (post-apocalyptic)
The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins
The Lonely Londoners, (1956) by Sam Selvon
The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres Wildthorn
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Revision Support and Materials
Students are given a Revision Timetable to make copy of and edit . This is for all subjects. Students should add their English Literature revision tasks to this timetable.
Component 1 Revision Booklet – Hamlet
Component 1 Revision Booklet – A Doll’s House and Rossetti Poetry
Component 2 Revision Booklet – Critical Appreciation of Dystopian Literature
Component 2 Revision Booklet – Comparative Essay Task
Exam Board Specification
A Level Specification – Exam Board – OCR
