Some of our English team tell you about what you will learn in English and the books and topics they love to teach.

 

THE DEPARTMENT

We aim to make the exploration of English enjoyable, engaging and accessible for ALL students. We study language in all its forms to ensure that students can make critical judgements on any text-type and write for a variety of purposes and audiences. We aim to provide as many outlets as possible for students to explore their own creativity in order to become confident writers and speakers. We believe that the study of English should be an imaginative exercise, one that draws on this country’s rich literary heritage as well as the best of other cultures. We also recognise that, in an increasingly media-dominated world, students need to be equipped to understand and decipher a wide range of modern, multimedia texts.

KEY STAGE 3

At Key Stage 3 in English we focus on writing and reading creatively, exploring a wide range of stories, issues and perspectives. We encourage students to read critically and teach them how to express their ideas and opinions compellingly.

We use a programme called Accelerated Reader to help establish a strong reading habit in Year Seven and we work with our wonderful library to ensure students continue to take pleasure in reading all kinds of books as they carry on into Year Eight and beyond.

All classes are mixed prior attainment, ensuring that all voices can be heard in the classroom. Each year students study a range of different text types, including:

  • Novels
  • Plays
  • Poetry
  • Short stories

We explicitly teach key vocabulary and essay writing. We make sure students regularly look at short extracts from texts they have not studied so that they can develop their comprehension skills.

Recommended Reading for KS3

KEY STAGE 4
GCSEs:

GCSE classes in Key Stage 4 are mixed ability at Cheney. The course begins in Year 10 and students follow the GCSE curriculum from the exam board AQA. This is an entirely exam-based curriculum: there is no coursework and students are assessed entirely on a series of written exams at the end of Year 11. There are two qualifications: English Language and English Literature. English Language is compulsory and nearly all students will also take the English Literature qualification as well, meaning they will get two GCSEs at the end of Year 11. The exams for English Literature are closed book (students won’t have a copy of the text they studied in front of them) so it is essential that students know these texts extremely well. For this reason, students have to buy their own copy of the texts, so that they can annotate them, mark pages, etc. Currently, the literature texts we study are: 'An Inspector Calls', 'Macbeth', The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and AQA's selection of poetry called Power and Conflict.

Cheney KS4 Reading List

Revision Guide Literature Paper 1

Revision Guide Literature Paper 2

Revision Guide Language Paper 1

Revision Guide Language Paper 2

ELC:

In our ELC classes, the students are only entered for one English GCSE instead of two. They continue their studies for the English Literature GCSE. Instead of being entered for their English Language GCSE, the students are entered for an Entry Level Certificate in English with the same exam board (AQA). This gives them the best opportunity to leave Cheney with qualifications which will be of use to them. In addition, our ELC classes are smaller and the certificate is entirely coursework based, which reduces pressure during exam season.

KEY STAGE 5

A Level English Literature – English Literature is a highly popular A Level subject, that has experienced exceptional results over a number of years. The awarding body is Edexcel. Student enjoyment of the subject has always been high, and many students go on to study English at university. We study a variety of texts from the three main forms of writing: prose, poetry and drama. We are currently teaching prose comparison with a theme of Science and Society; the texts are The Handmaid's Tale and Frankenstein. This year, we are teaching the Tragedy genre through Hamlet and A Streetcar Named Desire, and finally, students will also have the opportunity to study pre-19th century poetry and modern poetry. These texts will be studied over two years, Year 12 and 13, where students will have plenty of opportunities to discuss, disagree and debate their views on literature. Students will be examined through a piece of independent coursework and three exams at the end of Year 13, these will all be open book exams.

A-Level Media Studies
Media Studies is always a popular course here at Cheney and it compliments a wide range of other A-Level subjects. The awarding body is OCR. In Media Studies we look at a range of different media industries including film, video games, music videos, long-form TV drama, radio, print advertising, magazines, newspapers and online news. Students study 19 different theorists and learn how to apply media theory to the four areas of the media framework: representations, language, audience and industry. In an increasingly digital world, students enjoy looking at different ways media companies use digital convergence to attract and retain audiences. Students sit two exams at the end of year 13 which focus on the case studies they have explored in lessons as well as a few unseen sources. These account for 70% of their overall grade. The other 30% is assessed by a piece of creative coursework where students create their own music video and accompanying website for their fictional music artist.
INDEPENDENT LEARNING

We aim to promote a culture of independent learning in the department, and feel that this is particularly important at KS5. We ask that the students take responsibility for their learning and find interest in their studies.
We support students towards this through:
• regular assessment that outlines routes for improvement
• the use of exemplar material
• equipping students with a close working knowledge of the assessment criteria
• regular exam practice
• student feedback so that we can improve and adapt our courses to suit them