English
The department is proud of its rich diet of extra-curricular activities...
English Faculty at St. James’
The English Faculty at St. James’ is staffed by 5 well-qualified and enthusiastic subject specialists who teach across the whole age and ability range. We aim to nurture and develop in pupils, a life-long love of and expertise in all areas of spoken and written English, both for pleasure and also regarding essential skills for working life.
Homework is set at least once a week during Key Stage 3 and twice a week during Key Stage 4 and there are termly key assessments in place, the results of which are recorded on the school’s database.
The faculty is proud of its rich diet of extra-curricular activities which include theatre visits, seminars in school run by popular authors, performances staged by theatre groups to whole cohorts, in particular to Year 9 in preparation for their Shakespeare SATS tests and after-school GCSE revision classes.
In addition, during the school’s Humanities and Enterprise Week week, the department runs two ‘English’ days for Years 7 & 10 respectively, which feature a host of interactive & practical arts activities.
Year 7 pupils receive 7 lessons over the course of a 60 period 2 week timetable. The Year 7 syllabus focuses on the development of reading & writing skills based on the reading & writing assessment focuses that are tested in the end of Year 9 examination. Pupils study a range of fiction and non-fiction texts focusing on autobiography, media and moving image and the suspense genre. All pupils participate in a variety of speaking and listening activities and have the opportunity to enhance their ICT skills when completing English tasks.
Year 8 pupils receive 6 lessons over the course of a 60 period 2 week timetable. Their syllabus centres on the continuation of the development of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills with a focus on journalistic media, the novel ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar and an exploration of persuasive writing, e.g. as used in advertisements. Both Year 7 and Year 8 pupils undertake formal examinations in the Summer term, the Optional Reading Tests, which give their current APP levels and sublevels.
Year 9 pupils receive 7 lessons during a 60 period 2 week timetable. Over the course of the academic year, the syllabus consists of a rich and varied menu of reading, writing and oral activities, all linked to the APP RAFs and WAFs. These include studies of the novels "Stone Cold" and "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" and an analysis of World War 1 poetry, during which pupils produce persuasive writing focused charity leaflets and practise their comparative writing skills. The spring term is largely devoted to the study of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", whilst the summer term focuses on speaking and listening skills and GCSE preparation.
All KS3 students are currently studying for the new AQA GCSE examinations in English Language and English Literature.
In Year 10, studetns complete five Controlled Assessments, whereas Year 11 is devoted to revision and preparation for the Unit 1 English examination. They also study "Of Mice and Men", "An Inspector Calls", and the new AQA anthology "Moon on the Tides" poems in preparation for the two English literature examinations at the end of the course.
Pupils also have a chance to resit their English language examination in June if they do not achieve their target grade in January.
Mrs A Rigby - Director of Faculty
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