The English Department at Noadswood

The English Department at Noadswood prides itself on enthusing students with a love of the English language and literature. Students are given opportunities to engage with a wide range of texts from different cultures, genres and historical periods.

During their time at Noadswood, students develop the skills needed to communicate effectively through spoken and written language and to understand, interpret and respond thoughtfully to a wide variety of texts.

There is a strong focus on the key skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. We aim to improve students' technical accuracy in written work, develop their critical thinking and analytical skills, increase their cultural awareness through the exploration of a wide range of reading material, and encourage creativity through drama, discussion, independent reading and imaginative writing.

We also recognise the importance of English beyond the classroom. The ability to communicate clearly, listen carefully, present ideas confidently, interpret information critically and adapt language for different audiences is essential in almost every future career. Throughout the curriculum, students therefore develop transferable skills that prepare them for further study, employment and participation in wider society.

We believe that the study of English at Noadswood should not only prepare students for examinations, further study and the world of work, but should also instil a genuine appreciation and enjoyment of English that stays with them for life.

The English Curriculum at Noadswood

We apply cognitive teaching and learning approaches to enhance our pupils' participation in cultural discourse and society.

Our curriculum choices are challenging and ambitious for all pupils. Great care is taken to plan and sequence learning coherently from lesson to lesson, text to text and year group to year group.

Our intention is that, by Year 11, every student can understand their learning journey in English at Noadswood. We want our students to recognise that the curriculum has been deliberately designed as a spiral curriculum, in which knowledge, vocabulary, concepts and skills are revisited and developed with increasing complexity.

Students should be able to see how the texts and skills studied in one year build upon and extend prior learning. For example, encounters with Gothic literature begin in Year 7, develop through Victorian literature in Year 8 and culminate in the more sophisticated study of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Similarly, students encounter Shakespeare in every year of Key Stage 3 before studying Macbeth at GCSE.

Our curriculum prepares students for the demands of GCSE examinations, but that is only part of its purpose. We want English to help students understand the world around them and their place within it.

We believe that the study of English should help students grow into well-rounded, independent, free-thinking and articulate individuals.

We passionately believe that English plays a pivotal role in the development of a student's cultural literacy. We consciously include texts from different cultures, traditions and historical periods; discuss and explore topical current affairs; and expose students to a rich variety of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, media and spoken language.

Students are encouraged to question ideas, explore different perspectives and develop viewpoints of their own. Through classroom discussion, debate, presentations and collaborative talk, they learn how to participate confidently and respectfully in discourse.

We want students to develop empathy, intellectual curiosity and a desire for knowledge.

Our classwork, homework, enrichment opportunities and independent reading provision all contribute to the development of cultural literacy.

English also provides important preparation for future careers. Students practise skills relevant to areas including journalism, law, teaching, publishing, marketing, media, public relations, politics, business and the creative industries. More broadly, the ability to communicate effectively, think critically and respond intelligently to information is valuable in almost every profession.

Our Synopsis of Study

Year 7 - English

In Year 7, we begin with an exploration of storytelling.

From cave paintings to present-day gaming, students explore the human instinct to tell stories. They consider some of the earliest surviving forms of storytelling before moving through oral traditions, literature, film, digital media and gaming.

This introductory unit allows students to engage with reading, writing and spoken language from the very beginning of their time at Noadswood. Students tell stories themselves, discuss how stories shape communities and consider why human beings have always used narratives to entertain, educate, warn, persuade and remember.

Spoken language is deliberately incorporated through storytelling, paired discussion and short presentations, helping students to build confidence in expressing ideas clearly and listening to the perspectives of others.

In Autumn Term 2, students read a selection of Gothic short stories and begin our sequence of study of the Gothic genre. This is a genre that we deliberately revisit across the year groups. Students begin to understand conventions such as suspense, atmosphere, isolation, the supernatural and psychological fear. This provides a foundation for later study of Victorian literature and, ultimately, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

In Spring Term 1, we turn our attention to an in-depth study of English and Media.

Students examine advertising, social media, marketing, public speaking, gender stereotypes and film reviews. They explore how language and images can influence audiences and how consumers are targeted through persuasive techniques.

Students also consider the increasing influence of artificial intelligence and digital communication.

The unit encourages pupils to become critical consumers of information and media. These skills have clear links to future careers in advertising, journalism, marketing, communications, digital media and business.

Discussion, debate and short presentations are used throughout so that students develop confidence in articulating and defending their views.

In Spring Term 2, students study a selection of poetry with a focus on different cultures and experiences.

Students are introduced to a range of poetic methods and begin to develop their ability to respond analytically to poetry. They explore how poetry can communicate identity, experience, emotion and social ideas.

Students also write poetry of their own, reinforcing the idea that poetry is not simply something to analyse, but a form of communication and self-expression.

In Summer Term 1, students turn their attention to Shakespeare.

They are transported to the forests of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream, meeting characters such as Puck and exploring comedy, misunderstanding, relationships, power and performance.

Drama and spoken language are particularly important here. Students are encouraged to read scenes aloud, experiment with interpretation and consider how meaning changes through performance.

In Summer Term 2, students read, explore and discuss the modern novel Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes.

The novel is deliberately chosen because it combines an accessible narrative with challenging and important ideas. Through the story, students explore racism, prejudice, social bias, injustice, empathy and the consequences of assumptions. The novel allows students to encounter experiences and perspectives that may differ significantly from their own and encourages thoughtful discussion about fairness, responsibility and social change.

The text also supports our commitment to developing cultural literacy. Students are encouraged to consider both the historical and contemporary context surrounding racial inequality and to understand how literature can give voice to experiences that might otherwise remain unheard.

Importantly, Ghost Boys is not studied simply as a text about racism. It is also a text about empathy, childhood, family, community, responsibility and hope. The younger characters in the novel suggest that change is possible when people are prepared to listen, question inherited attitudes and challenge injustice.

The novel therefore provides rich opportunities for discussion, debate and spoken responses. Students are encouraged to articulate difficult ideas respectfully, listen to alternative perspectives and develop evidence-based viewpoints.

These are skills that extend beyond English and into future life and employment: communicating sensitively, understanding different perspectives and contributing constructively to difficult conversations.

Year 8 - English

In Year 8, students continue their exploration of literature from earlier historical periods, building directly upon the Gothic study of Year 7.

We walk the streets of Victorian and Gothic literature with some of its most memorable and unsettling characters, including Bill Sikes, Miss Havisham, Dorian Gray, Dracula, Frankenstein's creature and Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Students explore how writers construct villains, outsiders and morally ambiguous characters. They consider how attitudes towards crime, poverty, appearance, morality and social class are reflected in literature.

In Autumn Term 2, we build upon this learning through the study of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

This ambitious text provides students with their first sustained study of a Victorian novella and allows them to develop confidence when reading challenging nineteenth-century prose.

Students explore Dickens' characters, ideas and social commentary, while developing understanding of Victorian society, poverty, responsibility and social reform.

In Spring Term 1, we return to Media.

English is not limited to the printed word. Students explore how meaning is communicated through advertising, digital media, visual texts and gaming.

The scheme draws on knowledge developed in Year 7 and works alongside elements of the Citizenship curriculum, particularly through the exploration of marketing and persuasive techniques.

Students consider predatory marketing, audience targeting and the ways media organisations attempt to influence behaviour.

Video games are also considered as storytelling forms. Students are encouraged to recognise that texts encountered in their leisure time can contain complex narratives, themes and moral choices.

This unit also provides direct links to careers in marketing, media production, advertising, gaming, communications and journalism.

Spoken language remains a regular feature through discussion, presentation and debate.

In Spring Term 2, students return to poetry.

They build upon their Year 7 study by encountering increasingly sophisticated poetic methods and developing more detailed analytical responses.

Students make explicit connections to previous learning so that poetry becomes part of an accumulating body of knowledge rather than an isolated unit.

In Summer Term 1, students continue their Shakespeare journey.

Having explored the forests of Athens in Year 7, they now travel to the island setting of The Tempest.

Students explore ideas surrounding power, freedom, control, colonialism, revenge and forgiveness.

Performance, dramatic interpretation and spoken language remain central to the study of Shakespeare.

In Summer Term 2, students read the modern novel Stone Cold by Robert Swindells.

The novel provides an accessible but challenging exploration of homelessness, social exclusion and vulnerability. Through Link's experiences and the contrasting narrative voices, students examine how prejudice, isolation and unequal power can shape lives, while also considering how writers position readers to feel empathy and question assumptions.

Teaching the novel allows us to explore the causes and realities of homelessness beyond stereotypes, including the language used to describe people without secure housing, the risks faced by vulnerable young people and the responsibilities of individuals and society. Where appropriate, we pair the fiction with contemporary non-fiction, charity campaigns and discussion so students can distinguish representation from reality, form evidence-based viewpoints and consider how communication can influence public attitudes. The unit also creates purposeful opportunities for spoken language and persuasive writing, with links to careers in social care, housing, charities, journalism, law and public services.

Year 9 - English

In Autumn Term 1, students study Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. This modern Gothic novel allows students to build directly on the Gothic knowledge first introduced in Year 7 while encountering a more sustained and sophisticated narrative.

We choose The Woman in Black because it gives students an accessible but challenging opportunity to explore atmosphere, suspense, setting, narrative perspective and the conventions of Gothic writing across a complete novel. Students consider how Hill creates fear through what is seen, heard, suggested and withheld, helping them to develop increasingly precise analysis of a writer's methods.

The novel also strengthens reading stamina and confidence with extended prose. It allows students to revisit ideas such as isolation, the supernatural, secrecy and psychological fear, while preparing them for the more demanding nineteenth-century Gothic fiction that follows later in the term.

Discussion, dramatic reading and spoken interpretation are used to help students test ideas before writing. The unit also develops transferable skills in close reading, inference, interpretation and communicating a supported viewpoint.

In Autumn Term 2, students study Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

This is students' first reading of the nineteenth-century novel that later becomes a GCSE set text. At this stage, our priority is for students to experience the novel as a story and to understand its plot, characters, atmosphere and central ideas.

Students explore Victorian London and build upon contextual knowledge developed in Years 7 and 8, while also making links back to the Gothic conventions revisited through The Woman in Black. This sequencing enables students to compare how fear, secrecy, the supernatural and divided identity are presented across different periods.

The text serves as a bridge between Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. We deliberately use Jekyll and Hyde as a gateway text so that students develop confidence with nineteenth-century literature before returning to it in greater analytical depth at GCSE.

In Spring Term 1, students travel to Shakespearean Italy through the study of Romeo and Juliet.

While the play contains a tragic love story, our principal focus is on male aggression, conflict, honour, status and the culture of violence that shapes the world of the play. Students explore how characters such as Tybalt, Mercutio and Romeo are influenced by expectations of masculinity, loyalty and reputation, and how impulsive aggression contributes to the tragedy.

This focus allows students to examine how Shakespeare presents power, conflict and social expectations through language and dramatic action. Students continue to develop confidence in reading Shakespeare aloud, performing scenes, debating characters' choices and discussing how alternative interpretations can change an audience's response.

In Spring Term 2, students explore George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Students examine political allegory, propaganda, manipulation, power and control. This encourages them to think critically about language, leadership and the way information can be shaped to influence populations.

The unit has clear links to careers involving communication, law, politics, journalism, public service and media.

During Year 9, students also prepare for their first more formal examination experience. We begin to introduce examination routines while ensuring that the broader curriculum remains focused on developing knowledge, confidence and independence rather than teaching solely to the test.

Year 10 - English Language and English Literature

Throughout Years 10 and 11, students study the two separate GCSE courses: AQA GCSE English Language and AQA GCSE English Literature.

In Autumn Terms 1 and 2, Shakespeare takes us to Scotland through the study of Macbeth.

The study of Macbeth brings together recurring ideas that students have encountered across Key Stage 3, including power, conflict, ambition, violence, morality, the supernatural and individual responsibility. We explicitly revisit and extend this prior knowledge so that students can see how their earlier study supports increasingly sophisticated GCSE analysis.

Alongside Literature study, one English Language lesson each fortnight is dedicated to extended writing.

Writing accounts for 50% of the GCSE English Language qualification, so regular practice is essential. Through these fortnightly lessons, students alternate between creative and persuasive writing, focusing upon planning, structure, vocabulary, accuracy, purpose and audience.

These writing skills also have direct application beyond examinations. Students practise adapting language for different audiences and purposes, essential skills for future study and employment.

Spoken language also continues to play an important role. Students rehearse ideas orally before writing, participate in discussion and debate, and develop confidence in formal presentation in preparation for the GCSE Spoken Language Endorsement.

In Spring Term 1, students revisit The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Having first encountered the novel in Year 9, they now explore it in significantly greater depth.

Students examine Stevenson's language, structure, characterisation and themes, as well as Victorian London, developments in science, religious anxieties, repression and changing ideas about human nature.

Where appropriate, students consider connections between these ideas and contemporary debates.

In the Summer Term, students study their final major Literature text, Lord of the Flies.

The novel allows students to explore ideas surrounding civilisation, power, leadership, violence, morality and human nature.

The deliberate sequencing of our curriculum enables students to make connections between Jack in Lord of the Flies, Macbeth in Macbeth and Dr Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde. Students can explore how each character responds to power, temptation, freedom and moral restraint.

Students also draw on earlier learning about power, leadership, violence, responsibility and human behaviour, using these recurring ideas to make thoughtful connections across the Literature curriculum without treating individual texts in isolation.

These connections strengthen students' ability to think conceptually across texts rather than viewing each Literature text in isolation.

Fortnightly extended writing continues throughout the year.

During the Summer Term, there is also an increasing focus on the GCSE English Language papers in preparation for the Year 10 examinations.

Students build upon the writing developed through these fortnightly lessons and explicitly practise the reading skills assessed across both English Language examination papers.

Year 11 - English Language and English Literature

By Year 11, students have encountered all major components of the GCSE English Language course and have completed a first attempt at both GCSE English Language papers during the Year 10 examination window.

The Autumn Term therefore becomes increasingly diagnostic and responsive.

Each teaching group follows a revision and improvement programme shaped by the needs of the students in that particular class.

Year 10 assessments and examinations are used to identify specific areas for improvement. Revision is therefore not simply repetition. It is targeted teaching designed to address identified gaps in knowledge and skills.

In English Language, students revisit reading and writing skills according to need. Particular attention is given to structural analysis, comparison, evaluation, viewpoint writing and technical accuracy.

In Literature, students complete their study of the fifteen Power and Conflict poems while revisiting previously studied texts.

The curriculum continues to emphasise connections between texts, writers, ideas and contexts.

Spoken language remains an important tool for learning. Students frequently rehearse analytical ideas verbally before writing, debate interpretations, explain quotations to one another and articulate arguments before committing them to the page.

Students also complete or refine the GCSE Spoken Language Endorsement, developing confidence in formal presentation, responding to questions and communicating ideas clearly to an audience.

These are highly transferable skills. The ability to present confidently, listen carefully, respond to questions, justify a viewpoint and adapt communication for an audience is valuable in university interviews, apprenticeships, employment, presentations and professional environments.

Throughout Year 11, revision becomes increasingly personalised. Different classes and, where appropriate, different students focus upon the barriers that are preventing them from achieving their next grade.