| Term 1 | Term 1 & 2: Stone Cold – Robert Swindells | |
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| Pupils will read this novel to build their critical reading and interpretation skills, including identifying, inferring, deducing and analysing the writer’s use of Language and Structural techniques. Moreover, they will consider the novel as a whole, analysing the development of characters and themes. Pupils will continue to develop their analytical skills, selecting suitable quotations and unpicking their effect on the reader. However, this novel also addresses a number of serious issues, particularly homelessness, offering students a jumping off point to reflect upon the way our actions affect one another. |
| Assessment: Analysis of an extract from a key chapter. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 2 | Term 1 & 2: Detective Fiction | |
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| Students will be reading a range of fictional detective short stories and extracts from across the ages. They will be learning the features and conventions of detective writing, such as using eccentric characters, mysterious events, and red herrings and then applying it to their own creative writing. |
| Assessment: 1) Reading tasks based on the opening of a fictional detective story.
2) Creative Writing assessment based on a picture stimulus. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 3 | Term 3 & 4: Noughts and Crosses (play script version) – Malorie Blackman | |
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| With echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Noughts and Crosses is an electrifying, bittersweet love story set in a society divided by racial bigotry and a world rocked by terrorism. Sephy (a Cross) is the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister. Callum is the son of a Nought agitator. United by a shared sense of injustice as children, and separated by intolerance as they grow up, their desire to be together begins to eclipse all family loyalty sparking a political crisis of unimaginable proportions.
This thrilling stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's hugely successful novel was premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2007. Throughout this module, students will not only further develop their understanding of the key features of great - and diverse -theatre, but also engage with a range of thought-provoking questions and scenarios. Moreover, they will focus on studying the play as a whole, considering the development of characters and themes, and how our societal context may affect the message for their readers. |
| Assessment: Analytic written response to the whole play. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 4 | Term 3 & 4: Times of Challenge | |
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| Students will work with their teachers on annotating a range non-fiction extracts from writers who have been faced with some form of difficulty or adversity. They will read texts that tackle a range of issues, from the tragic to the comedic, and understand how writers use voice and purpose to carry their messages to the reader.
Following on from this, students will then work towards their own non-fictional accounts that discusses a range of strong emotions. |
| Assessment: 1) Reading and analysing of a non-fiction text. 2) Writing a memoir. | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 5 & 6: ‘Speaking Up’ & Comparison skills | Term 5 & 6: ‘Speaking Up’ & Comparison skills | |
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| Another new addition to our curriculum in 2021, Team English at BFS were delighted to trial a module for use both across the Russell Education Trust, and the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE). This module is an engaging blend of both the joy of poetry and learning through speaking and listening, helping students to hone both their public speaking and performance skills. Students engage with a range of diverse poems, on topics from identity to the environment, encouraging engagement and enjoyment. Through a range of activities, including journals, they gain confidence in speaking poetry aloud, exploratory discussion and free writing of poetry. These elements combine to increase pupils’ confidence in understanding structure, language and sound in poetry. Alongside this, students engage with a range of stimulating non-fiction texts to hone their comparative skills: picking out not only key similarities and differences in content and style, but also carefully considering writers’ purposes. |
| Assessment: Reflective journals, oracy activities.
End of year assessment is an abridged English Language Paper 1: Reading fiction + Creative writing | Key Words and Terms |
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| Term 6 | Term 6: End of Year exam / Speaking and Listening | |
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| After their end of year exam, students work towards presenting a topical speech with a "real world theme". Working from ideas generation, through considering the most powerful ideas and whole speech structure, students then craft and edit persuasive speeches. A real highlight of this module is the polished presentation of these speeches to the rest of the class, benefiting from rehearsal and ongoing peer feedback. |
| Assessment: | Key Words and Terms |
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