English

Implementation 

The English Department at Penwortham Priory Academy prepares pupils to take an active part in the world beyond school by developing their all-round communication skills. This subject calls for pupils to become active readers, confident speakers and engaging writers, all with accuracy and careful attention to detail.

Language and Literature are taught as combined courses throughout both key stages and all pupils are entered for GCSEs in both subjects.

We are a reading school and have invested in Accelerated Reader (AR). Each pupil, up to and including Year 10, carries a reading book and has access to both the library, which was updated again in 2019, and software which enables them to ‘quiz’; develop their vocabulary and choose appropriate reading material from the growing school library.  AR is a programme that effectively diagnoses, assesses and encourages a love of habitual reading. Bedrock, new for 2020, encourages the acquisition of new vocabulary and enjoyment in reading and growing vocabulary.  

The English department fully supports and takes an active part in the ‘Read Aloud’ sessions during Learning for Life lessons.

In collaboration with the department, the school’s Senior Leaders implement a fortnightly literacy and vocabulary quiz which features ‘Word of the Week’; ‘Literacy tip of the Week’ and also ‘Synonym of the Week’;  every pupil in Years 7-10 sees and takes part in the quiz which is coordinated by the English team.

Each English unit is ‘knowledge rich’ as well as ‘skills rich’ and the variety of skills and knowledge taught is absolutely vast, supporting the school’s drive on Learning for Life and building ‘Cultural Capital’

Knowledge and skills are tested and interleaved in a low stakes testing at the discretion of class teachers but always weekly in both KS3 and 4.

The department are advocates of Kagan Cooperative Learning structures and implement them routinely in lessons.

All lessons in year 7-10 begin with 10-15 minutes of private reading wherein the member of staff models good reading behaviour in line with the department's Accelerated Reader 'charter'. In the weekly ‘reading hour’; teachers employ intervention strategies; implement Bedrock lessons; help students choose books and share their love of books with the students.

Attainment and Progress (national tests and assessments)

2023 GCSE English Outcomes

Reading

Destinations

The topics in Year 7 are specifically chosen to develop, enhance and build on skills taught in Key Stage 2 in writing such as vocabulary use and sentence cohesion. The Year 7 programme also features a unit on Oracy which complements and builds on the Key Stage 2 National curriculum.  This is all in addition to the application of accurate and varied punctuation.

Year 7 reading begins to develop basic Key Stage 2 comprehension and foster understanding of inference, perspective and language use. 

Alongside this, we run a bridging unit throughout the summer holidays which feeds into your child's first unit at secondary school - Creative Writing: 

Autumn Term 1

Escape From Kraznir.  Year 7 meet an army of warriors who fight against an evil tyrant king; Year 7 lead their army in a creative writing quest.  

Autumn Term 2

First Day At School.  A reading unit studying extracts of fiction and non-fiction, all about school.  Pupils will address how they think the writer feels and develop appreciation of conveying feelings through language.

Christmas Speech Competition.  In the run up to Christmas, your child will write and perform a speech on a topic of their choice.  If they are lucky enough, they will be selected to compete against other Year 7 finalists for the grand prize!

Spring Term 1

Literary Heritage Unit.  This introduces pupils to older writers and some of their texts including Greek mythology, Roald Dahl, Mary Shelley and Rudyard Kipling. They will develop an understanding of the importance of context and how narratives have changed over time. It also exposes our learners to the 'greats'- authors that are celebrated and revered in the field.

Spring Term 2

School Trips. Persuasive Writing.  Students will look at writing non-fiction, writing different non-fiction styles with a focus on persuading the reader.

Home and Away. Poetry Study. The pupils explore what a poem is and study texts from a variety of celebrated poets. They will develop understanding of why poetry is written and understand when a poet has a message.  They will also compete in a poetry writing competition. 

Summer Term

Nature is Beautiful.  Students will write from a stimulus about the world we live in.

Novel Study: Refugee Boy

At every stage of your child’s learning at Penwortham Priory Academy, the department guarantees an exciting, pertinent and rewarding year that will pay dividends to your child’s progress and development of their character in readiness for the world. English is absolutely vital in equipping your child with skills and awareness for life. If you have queries or indeed suggestions about your child’s journey in English at Priory, please contact the Assistant Head of Department, Mrs Robinson-Ali via email at e.robinson@priory.lancs.sch.uk

Your child’s development of literacy, writing and reading appreciation means as much to us as it does to you. 

Autumn Term 1

'Time Travel'.  Pupils will study a range of captivating short stories and fiction extracts to develop their structure and language analysis skills and boost their cultural capital.   

Autumn Term 2

‘People, Places and Animals’.  Your child will read a collection of 'real-world' texts from letters to opinion articles.  Classes will foster an appreciation of how writers show their points of view on culturally significant topics.

Spring Term 1 

‘Kicking off’ Your child will write a range of non-fiction and be taught to craft engaging, purposeful and well-structured real-life pieces of writing, including a letter of complaint and an article.

Spring Term 2

‘Stone Cold’.  A story that they read as a class. By Robert Swindells, this narrative follows a homeless 17 year old and his challenging circumstances.  During this time, your child will understand how writers craft fiction texts and create lovable characters and compelling narratives.

Summer Term 1

‘So Quick and So Deadly’

Writing From A Stimulus- Conflict writing. Your child will craft a piece of engaging, well-planned creative writing based on a collection of fiction about facing war and conflict

Summer Term 2

‘Much Ado About Nothing’

Pupils will be taken back in time to the Elizabethan era and a trip to the theatre five centuries ago!  They will fall in love with one of Shakespeare's best comedy plays and learn about culture and expectations in the 16th Century.  Who will your child meet when they step inside the Globe Theatre?

At every stage of your child’s learning at Penwortham Priory Academy, the department guarantees an exciting, pertinent and rewarding year that will pay dividends to your child’s progress and development of their character in readiness for the world. English is absolutely vital in equipping your child with skills and awareness for life. If you have queries or indeed suggestions about your child’s journey in English at Priory, please contact the Assistant Head of Department, Mrs Robinson-Ali via email at e.robinson@priory.lancs.sch.uk

Your child’s development of literacy, writing and reading appreciation means as much to us as it does to you. 

Autumn Term 1

Who Dunnit?

An Inspector Calls - A Mystery story- a tale of scandal and corruption set against the backdrop of the early 20th Century

Detective Stories - Using An Inspector Calls as a stimulus, pupils begin writing creatively and learning about creating engaging narrative hooks, descriptive technique and shaping memorable, likeable and loathe-able characters. In this unit, they will explore how to draft, redraft and edit their own texts, creating pieces that are captivating to read and include all the ingredients of a good ‘Who Dunnit?’

Autumn Term 2

Of Mice and Men

Focusing on cultural capital again, pupils go back in time to the era of The Wall Street Crash and The Great Depression in the States. Year 9 will meet some interesting ranch hands in their time there. This literature study gives pupils a flavour of the English Literature study at Key Stage 4, learning about how writers create setting, use structure and develop characterisation with this classic Steinbeck novella that’s impossible not to fall in love with.

Spring Term 1

A Question of Sport

The spring term begins with Year 9 creating transactional pieces of non fiction and expressing their own views on current affairs through letters, speeches, critical essays and articles. All these pieces are based on a selection of non fiction pieces from the world of sport.

Romeo and Juliet

This half term Year 9 reconnect with William Shakespeare and study a new play. After studying Comedy in Year 8, this time, Year 9 come face to face with the most famous Shakespearean tragedy - the tale of ‘Star Crossed Lovers’  Here, they will closely analyse Shakespeare’s intentions in his creation of these fascinating characters.

Summer Term 1

In Today’s News

Year 9 dive into non-fiction study and explore writers’ viewpoints and perspectives in non-fiction. This includes a study into current media topics and how writers can convey their feelings through bias and language choices, tone and structural features.  

Summer Term 2

We Know Where We Belong

Finally, Year 9 read a collection of poetry, again a culture rich, non-GCSE anthology giving a delicious insight into other cultures and traditions including poetry written about the Apartheid struggles in South Africa and poetry that addresses white and middle class privilege in our own cultures. This unit aims to foster a mature and informed grasp of other worlds beyond the confines of our borders and create ‘I didn’t know that!’ moments in every lesson.

At every stage of your child’s learning at Penwortham Priory Academy, the department guarantees an exciting, pertinent and rewarding year that will pay dividends to your child’s progress and development of their character in readiness for the world. English is absolutely vital in equipping your child with skills and awareness for life. If you have queries or indeed suggestions about your child’s journey in English at Priory, please contact the Assistant Head of Department, Mrs Robinson-Ali via email at e.robinson@priory.lancs.sch.uk

Your child’s development of literacy, writing and reading appreciation means as much to us as it does to you. 

Year 10

Autumn Term 1

‘Identity’

We open our new Literature GCSE anthology and start the year with poetry about identity.

1B

‘Nature’

This unit looks at more from the Power and Conflict GCSE poetry cluster, this time with a focus on the power of nature. This unit also looks at a collection of extracts from Fiction about nature, introducing Y10 to the Language paper skills for the first time. The department’s expert examiner team help students understand the GCSE Assessment Objectives and achieve them as well as appreciating writer’s craft in fiction writing.

Autumn Term 2

‘The Rich and the Poor’

 Year 10 familiarise themselves further with the poetry anthology, starting their study of William Blake's 'London'. Then, pupils read their 19th Century text. Your child comes face to face with ‘Old Scratch’ when they take a visit to ‘Scrooge and Marley’s’ in Dickens’ festive classic originally meant to be a leaflet but turned into ‘My Little Christmas Story’ featuring a fierce and heart-warming message about social responsibility.

Spring Term

The Spring sees Year 10 embark on an exploration of non-fiction.  In class pupils will sharpen their non-fiction skills. In the run up to Easter, the pupils dust off their anthologies and study GCSE war poetry.   

In late Spring, pupils will reconnect with Shakespeare, studying their GCSE text this time.

Summer Term

In this term pupils study poems about mental struggle followed by their Spoken Language Unit.

Summer means that your child is fast approaching Year 11 and as such, they are assessed through a series of mock exams that inform our teaching for September. 

Year 11

In Year 11, your child focuses on honing and polishing skills taught so far on their course.

Autumn Term 1

Pupils study ‘Poems about abuse of Power' and then create a piece of fiction called ‘The Confession’ based on the idea of giving or receiving bad news. It is critical students can write to entertain and this unit helps them develop these skills.

Then pupils study a collection of fiction extracts and short stories with the theme of education in readiness for the first round of Pre-Public Exams or ‘mocks’

In the run up to Christmas pupils study their final Literature component ‘Blood Brothers’ known as ‘The Standing Ovation Musical’ and the department endeavours every year to take pupils on a visit to see the show live.

Spring Term

In the Spring, pupils go ‘To The Fair’ and study a collection of non fiction featuring extracts about ‘Cirque Du Freak’ and Glastonbury Festival.

After learning how to analyse Unseen Poetry, Year 11, and their staff, begin final preparation for their external GCSE examinations, both Literature and Language examined by the AQA board. All exams across English usually run throughout the end of May and early to mid June.

 
At every stage of your child’s learning at Penwortham Priory Academy, the department guarantees an exciting, pertinent and rewarding year that will pay dividends to your child’s progress and development of their character in readiness for the world. English is absolutely vital in equipping your child with skills and awareness for life. If you have queries or indeed suggestions about your child’s journey in English at Priory, please contact the Assistant Head of Department, Mrs Robinson-Ali via email at e.robinson@priory.lancs.sch.uk

Your child’s development of literacy, writing and reading appreciation means as much to us as it does to you. 

Frequently asked questions:

Bedrock is an interactive online vocabulary curriculum application which is used by pupils in Year 8 and Year 9. Its objective is to introduce pupils to a wide range of Tier 2 vocabulary at a pace they can cope with.

With Bedrock, pupils have to read quite substantial texts; key vocabulary will be highlighted and its meaning explained. The words are then used in different contexts so it develops an understanding of the new vocabulary. Pupils start with an Alpha test which ascertains the appropriate reading ‘block’ (which are like levels in a game) for that pupil. They then complete a pre- and post-block test to allow both the pupils and the teachers to see how much improvement in their vocabulary they’ve achieved.

Each student is expected to achieve a minimum of 20 points per week.  Working on this basis helps students make the best progress.  Spacing their learning allows new vocabulary and grammar to absorb better ensuring they retain the information. In some lessons, they may get the opportunity to do some of this allocation but we encourage pupils to do as much as they can at home to progress through the ‘blocks’ .

We have also added an element of competition as each class has leaderboards which pupils compete to get to the top of as well as a half termly whole year group leaderboard. To land themselves a place they need to be the most engaged, having the most points or spending the most time on the Bedrock platform. 

Parents: We need your support

In addition to this we really want to encourage parental engagement. Parents should have received a letter with instructions on how to set up their Bedrock guardian account and log in (contact your child's English teacher if not).

As each child progresses through the curriculum, they will study hundreds of words, whilst reading fiction and non-fiction texts regularly. As their guardian, you can see their knowledge organiser and receive weekly progress reports via email once you've created your account.

Giving access as guardians will benefit your child because parents will see the vocabulary and level of challenge expected of your child, and they can check and encourage them to do the appropriate amount of work on the platform.

To create a Bedrock Guardian Account:

• Step 1:     Visit app.bedrocklearning.org
• Step 2:     Click on the Guardian Sign Up button at the top right
• Step 3:     Click the School Access Code button.  Enter your details along with the code (see letter issued to parents) which is different for each account so please enter this carefully.  Click Register. 
• Step 4:     Check your email for your password, and then log in. Be sure to check your junk folder if no email arrives. 

Each child has their own, separate log in details with which to log in and complete the work, which they must do unaided. 

Parents: What to do when logged in

To gain 20 points a week we expect students to spend around 40 minutes to one hour each week on the Bedrock platform. This is based on an average vocabulary lesson taking around 15 minutes to complete resulting in around 10 points or a grammar lesson taking around 25 minutes. This will vary for each student though.   

The Knowledge Organiser

We would like to highlight the knowledge organiser on the parent dashboard - see screenshot below. This section shows the vocabulary that a child is learning and has learnt already. 

We would like to encourage parents to look at the vocabulary used and practice this with your child at home. Perhaps the new language could be used while chatting in the car or stick the new words onto the fridge or the front door so your child sees them more often or even play a game of word bingo! This exposure to new language will help your child to embed it into their everyday conversations and become much more confident with their writing.