Overview:
The English curriculum at Grace Academy is designed as a concept-led, knowledge-rich journey that spans Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5, equipping students with the analytical, creative, and communicative skills needed for academic success and lifelong learning.
Intent and Vision
Our curriculum aims to:
- Build powerful knowledge through six interconnected domains: Metaphor, Story, Argument, Pattern, Grammar, and Context.
- Foster critical thinking, empathy, and resilience, enabling students to engage thoughtfully with literature and society.
- Prepare students for academic progression and societal contribution, rooted in our core values of Grace, Integrity, Excellence, Respect, and Potential.
Curriculum Structure
- Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9):
Students explore foundational concepts through epic narratives, rhetoric, and canonical texts. Themes such as heroism, morality, identity, and illusion vs reality are introduced via texts like The Odyssey, Beowulf, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Writing craft and oracy are embedded throughout.
- Key Stage 4 (Years 10–11):
GCSE English Language and Literature deepen analytical skills through texts including A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, and the AQA Power & Conflict poetry cluster. Language study focuses on viewpoint writing, rhetoric, and transactional skills, while Literature develops thematic and contextual understanding.
- Key Stage 5 (Years 12–13):
A Level English Literature immerses students in comparative and critical study across time and genre. Core units include Love Through the Ages (Shakespeare’s Othello, pre-1900 poetry), The Great Gatsby, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Modern Times (including A Streetcar Named Desire and Feminine Gospels). Students engage with unseen texts, critical theory, and synoptic links to develop independence and scholarly depth.
Pedagogical Approach
- Responsive Teaching: Adaptive strategies, scaffolding (I Do/We Do/You Do), and targeted questioning ensure inclusivity.
- Literacy and Oracy: Vocabulary is taught explicitly through Frayer models; academic reading and structured discussion underpin every unit.
- Assessment: Frequent retrieval practice, live marking, subject knowledge checks, and summative essays prepare students for external examinations.
Character and Wider Curriculum Links
Themes of resilience, morality, identity, and social justice run through all key stages, linking English to PSHE, History, and Citizenship. Students develop confidence in public speaking, ethical reasoning, and cultural awareness.
Teaching staff:
- Mrs Milford (Head of department)
- Mrs Piper-Spiers (Acting Head of Department)
- Miss Tranter-Jennings (Key Stage 3 Manager)
- Mrs Scrivens
- Mrs Richards
- Miss Guernah
- Mr Coley
- Miss Cresswell
- Mr Haynes
- Mr Perager
- Mr Probert
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Year 7 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
A concept-led journey through myth, epic and rhetoric that builds powerful knowledge in metaphor, story, argument, pattern, grammar and context. Core units: Ancient Origins, Lore & Legends, Art of Rhetoric, Exploration of human nature and society, and Illusion vs. Reality |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Subject Knowledge Checks at intervals; summative tasks at unit endpoints |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
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Useful websites: |
The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize Critical reading - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize How to write an introduction to an essay - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize |
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Year 8 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
Deepening identity and characterisation through a modern verse novel, war writing and women in literature, followed by writing craft and subversion. |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Subject Knowledge Checks at intervals; summative tasks at unit endpoints |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
Talk through dual (different) perspectives and themes of belonging; rehearse persuasive devices (triples, rhetorical questions). |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Empathy and perspective-taking (sisterhood, grief); resilience and ethical reasoning (war writing); voice and confidence through speech-writing. |
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Useful websites: |
Reading poetry - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize |
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Year 9 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
From Gothic conventions to social responsibility: The Gothic, Tragedy Through Time, Borders & Barriers, Responsibility & Reckoning, An Inspector Calls. |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Subject Knowledge Checks at intervals; summative tasks at unit endpoints |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
Discuss symbolism/supernatural as metaphors for societal fears; help map plot/events with timelines; encourage debate on accountability and social class. |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Moral/ethical reflection (responsibility, guilt); mental health sensitivity (disturbed minds); empathy for “outsiders”. |
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Useful websites: |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - KS3 English - BBC Bitesize - BBC Bitesize |
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Year 10 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
A balanced KS4 year across Literature and Language: A Christmas Carol → Freedom & Rebellion → Warfare poetry → Macbeth → Power & Society poetry → Influential Figures (Language Paper 2 skills). |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Regular retrieval, SKCs, and summatives (analytical essays, comparative poetry responses, Language P1/P2 practice, spoken language tasks). |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Social responsibility and empathy (ACC/poetry); moral reasoning (Macbeth); civic literacy (influential figures, persuasive writing). |
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Useful websites: |
19th century prose: Charles Dickens - GCSE English Literature - BBC Bitesize |
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Year 11 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
A cyclical, exam-readiness programme: relearning across Macbeth, Language Paper 1, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Language Paper 2, Poetry, Unseen, then bespoke cycles. |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Continuous live marking, SKCs, summative exam-style responses; Essays in Language and Literature. |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
Help plan weekly revision cycles; encourage short, regular timed essays; support retrieval of quotations and thematic mind-maps. |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Critical thinking & discernment; empathy; leadership and responsibility in literature; resilience via exam preparation. |
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Useful websites: |
Shakespeare - GCSE English Literature - BBC Bitesize |
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Year 12 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
Love Through the Ages (Origins & Othello; pre1900 poetry), The Great Gatsby, Unseen, and The Handmaid’s Tale—building comparative argumentation, context, and critical perspectives. |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
SKCs; comparative essays; unseen responses; summative tasks per module. |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
Encourage wider contextual reading (Jazz Age; feminist theory), seminar-style discussions, and regular practice of comparative thesis writing. |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Ethical reflection (love, power, autonomy); oracy via debate; academic literacy and independence. |
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Useful websites: |
www.senecalearning.com |
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Year 13 |
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Summary of curriculum: |
Modern Times pathway including A Streetcar Named Desire, The Handmaid’s Tale, introduction to Feminine Gospels, Unseen Prose, plus Love Through the Ages Paper 1 and full revision for Papers 1 & 2. |
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Main Topics: |
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Assessment throughout the year: |
Regular SKCs; summative comparative essays; exam-style practice papers; targeted revision cycles; live marking. |
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How parents/carers can support their child’s learning: |
Promote independent reading of criticism; timed comparative essays; retrieval routines; planning grids for synoptic links. |
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Character enrichment opportunities: |
Advanced academic discourse; resilience and self-management; ethical debate about modern social structures. |
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Useful websites: |
www.senecalearning.com |
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Subject contact: |
