Vision Statement
Our vision as an English department is to achieve excellence for all of our students through setting consistently high expectations and believing in all of our young people as creative, unique and talented individuals. We are passionate about our subject and believe that reading transforms the lives of our young people, opening up new futures for them all.
The English team is committed to engaging our students with literature from varied cultures, periods and perspectives; this is an essential tool for fostering empathy, curiosity and intellectual stamina within our students. The pleasure of reading a challenging text and the sense of accomplishment felt in the exploration of complex vocabulary is fostered by our study of both the literary canon and diverse authors. We also believe in making literature and non-fiction reading relevant and meaningful for all of our students; reading will encourage them to see wider horizons and help them to make sense of the world.
We believe that confidence in reading, writing and oracy underpins a happy, successful future and this informs all of our planning and lessons. We are driven to deliver an outstanding English curriculum which will impact on all subject areas as it engages students with critical thinking, ensures a wide vocabulary and demands regular, independent practice of reading skills.
The Team
Mrs C Davies – Deputy Subject Leader of English
Miss E Baker – Teacher of English
Mr H Day – Teacher of English
Mrs C Gold – Teacher of English
Mr G James – Teacher of English
Miss R Jennings – Teacher of English / Library Manager
Mrs K Lumsdon – Teacher of English
Mrs L Smith – Teacher of English
Mrs J Trace – Teacher of English
Dr B Webb-Blofeld – Teacher of English
Intent
The English department seeks to enable all students to be independent, critical and literate members of society who are prepared for life beyond school.
Our students will:
- Develop confident, independent reading and writing skills which are the foundations of a happy and successful life.
- Be able to communicate effectively and critically in the wider world through confident oracy skills
- Develop a passion for reading, and recognise how reading is critically important for later life and will empower them.
- Engage with the creativity and skill of authors of all genres; this will support their development as authors themselves.
- Develop a love of spoken language, understanding that being an effective speaker and listener is the basis for expressive writing.
- Explore new and exciting vocabulary as a gateway to key concepts and a way to explore the wider world. This enables students to develop into articulate and fluent communicators.
- Regularly express their ideas via discussion, debate and speeches.
Our intent at St Oscar Romero Catholic School is to inspire our students to be lifelong readers, who develop a love of literature and non-fiction. Students will experience vocabulary rich lessons, in which they engage with ideas through frequent discussion, as well as more formal written responses.
Our intent is to develop creativity and confidence in all our students; all lessons will provide opportunities for developing their craft as writers and students will be given confidence through the use of frequent modelling, live feedback and engaging with inspirational texts across a wide range of genres, cultures and literary movements.
We endeavour to teach literary texts within their contexts, so that students can appreciate the wider meanings and authorial intent of some of our greatest classics. Literature comes alive within our lessons, as students link their reading to our contemporary context; in this way we hope to inspire the writers and leaders of the future.
Implementation
All students in Key Stage Three receive four lessons a week of English, which includes access to library lessons and reading. Schemes of work have been created to cover a wide range of thematic study and ensure that students engage with prose, poetry, non-fiction and drama throughout each year. All departmental planning is shared, regularly reviewed and tailored to meet the needs of the National Curriculum whilst embedding the central concepts and skills needed for success in the KS4 exams. Marking of all assessments is moderated and shared in teams, ensuring consistency in standards.
At Key Stage Four students have five English lessons each week and study both GCSE Language and Literature concurrently. Students will develop their confidence in reading widely and independently in both literature and non-fiction. There is a detailed study of Shakespeare, a nineteenth century novel, twentieth century play and poetry on the theme of power. In their language studies, students will develop their expertise as writers of creative fiction, as well as the language of persuasion. Lessons will challenge students to engage with issues and texts via debate, discussion and speech writing. We aim to inspire all our students in their public speaking skills, as well as in the role of peer assessor.
A love of reading is fostered through our close work with the head of our library, who regularly shares the latest reads with the whole school in email updates. Through the year, we also run reading competitions and have established a rewards system for book reviews, encouraging our students to read the latest books and share them with peers.
Homework is intended to foster independence, develop revision techniques and ensure that our students are regularly reading challenging authors across all genres. At Key Stage 3 vocabulary development and practice is a regular aspect of homework tasks; this is underpinned by robust vocabulary instruction to ensure that students engage with new words. Our Key Stage 4 students are challenged by extended practice and revision, which is planned as part of our teaching sequence.
Impact
As a result of the quality of the curriculum and teaching and learning in English, we are proud to celebrate that students receive a truly outstanding education in English. Our results over time are illustrated in the table below.
| % 4 (standard pass) | % 5 (strong pass) | Progress 8 | Attainment 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Lang 72.8
Lit 79.8 |
Lang 57.9
Lit 64.1 |
Lang -0.03
Lit +0.32 |
Lang 4.63 Lit 4.96 |
| 2019 | Lang 76.7 Lit 74.1 |
Lang 54.3 Lit 54.3 |
Lang -0.05 Lit +0.07 |
Lang 4.91 Lit 5.02 |
| 2020 | Lang 80.2 Lit 82.4 |
Lang 59.5 Lit 62.4 |
Lang +0.53 Lit +0.56 |
Lang 5.06 Lit 5.23 |
| 2021 | Lang 91.3 Lit 87.3 |
Lang 68.5 Lit 64.5 |
Lang +1.23 Lit +1.26 |
Lang 5.68 Lit 5.48 |
| 2022 | Lang 88.9 Lit 90.3 |
Lang 74.3 Lit 77.1 |
Lang +1.1 Lit + 1.1 |
Lang 5.76 Lit 5.55 |
| 2023 | Lang 83.0 Lit 82.9 |
Lang 70.1 Lit 68.49 |
+0.8 | Lang 5.29 Lit 5.32 |
In addition to the above outcomes, we are proud to support our students to leave St Oscar Romero Catholic School as students who have a love of reading and literature. Our students leave us with a clear understanding of why English is important as it broadens their minds, develops emotional skills, and improves the quality of life by providing job opportunities.
Inspiration
In English lessons, students are encouraged to develop their unique creativity as writers and to explore the beauty of the English language. In our study of etymology and vocabulary, we ask students to experiment with words and through modelling/peer assessment students regularly share their ideas. Students also have the opportunity to engage with a rich variety of voices and perspectives in their reading lessons and have access to inspirational texts in the library. This is further developed by author visits, The Amazing Book Awards and the use of our online library service to engage with reading/share their love of books.
In both KS3 and KS4 we provide the opportunity for theatre trips, watching online performances and engaging with a range of drama activities to bring texts to life. Our aim is for students to love the written word and for texts to come to life through their reading/study.
- Year 7-9 author visits throughout the year, including small group workshops on the art of writing and how a book is published from first draft to first edition.
- Student librarians – a position of responsibility which engages students in the running of the library and supporting author visits.
- Year 8 theatre trip to see the stage version of ‘The Woman in Black’.
- Year 7 theatre group visit to the school, including workshops on ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
- Year 10 Theatre group visit to engage with the central themes and characters of Macbeth.
- Year 10 and Year 11 theatre trip to see ‘An Inspector Calls’
- KS3 Book Club which allows students a space to discuss their enjoyment of books and listen to others.
