Learning above all.
English
Ms Katy Hart – Subject Leader
Dr Julie Skarratt – Literacy Coordinator, Library Coordinator & SENCO
Mr Andrew Dethick – Teacher
Ms Stephanie Lambe – Teacher
Ms Tracey Ellis – Teacher
Mrs Mikaela Fallon – Teacher
Miss Melissa Parker – Teacher
Mr Jordan Davies – Student Teacher
Suggested English Reading List
For more details about the English curriculum, please email katy.hart@macclesfieldacademy.org
English is vital to everyday life and we strive to ensure that each student at The Macclesfield Academy is ready to face their future with excellent communication skills. We are an energetic and committed team, with a wide range of specialisms and experience.
DEPARTMENT AIMS
The English curriculum is designed to equip our students with the reading, writing and speaking and listening skills that they will need for life and to enable them to build a lifelong love of literature.
We aim to provide students with experience of a broad range of texts from diverse writers in order to expand their understanding of different cultures as well as building their awareness of British culture and our literary heritage.
Our curriculum demonstrates high aspirations, and is designed to build students’ knowledge, skills and confidence as they work towards their GCSE exams in English Language and Literature in year 11.
With literacy skills woven throughout, our Key Stage 3 curriculum aims to ensure that all students are able to access the GCSE syllabus by the time they start year 10. We also ensure that all students encounter a wide range of poetry, drama, prose and non-fiction, in order that they can appreciate and understand different styles and viewpoints of diverse writers from the Elizabethan and Victorian eras to the modern day.
Our aim is that students leave The Macclesfield Academy as well-qualified, well-read, confident and responsible young people, who are able to understand the world that they live in and to contribute positively to it, especially through their oracy and through their written words.
Implementation
Our Key Stage 3 curriculum is designed to meet the requirements of the National Curriculum. Knowledge acquisition and skills development are carefully sequenced to ensure that we build upon students’ prior knowledge and carefully prepare them for the next stage of their English journey. Through our teaching of reading, we aim to develop students’ ability to understand, analyse and interpret texts, as well as building critical thinking skills. We also teach a range of writing skills in both fiction and non-fiction, allowing students the scope to write imaginatively for a range of purposes and audiences.
Key knowledge and vocabulary is outlined on a Knowledge Organiser for each unit of work and this knowledge is tested fortnightly, in an attempt to embed key knowledge in students’ long-term memories and to improve their ability to retain and recall information.
Our year 7 curriculum is designed to introduce students to the rigours of Key Stage 3 and to enthuse them about literature. We start with a novel and use this to teach a range of reading and writing skills, whilst also establishing our “15 minute read” that we do at the start of all English lessons.
In year 8, we build the complexity of the texts we study, whilst year 9 consolidates the knowledge and skills already gained and finalises the foundations for the study of English at GCSE.
Every lesson begins with a 15 minute read, which may be of the class text or students’ own books. Classes also have the chance to have library lessons where they can browse and borrow books.
Speaking and listening skills are covered throughout the three years, through debates, discussion, presentations, role-play and other dramatic pieces.
In years 10 and 11 we cover the necessary set texts for GCSE Literature, whilst also working on the required skills for English Language. We follow the syllabus for AQA in both Language and Literature.
The English department at The Macclesfield Academy also offers GCSE Media Studies, which gives students the chance to develop their understanding of media institutions and how the media represents different ideas and sectors of society. This qualification has a non-exam assessment element, allowing students to create a media product for an intended audience.
The English team is made of up 6 enthusiastic and knowledgeable specialist teachers, who have a valuable blend of experience (at the Academy, at other schools and as examiners) and the new approaches and ideas of those nearer the start of their career. Teachers work openly and honestly together on the design and implementation of the curriculum and moderate work together in order to ensure that assessment is as accurate and robust as possible.
Impact
The curriculum is designed to ensure that students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to do well in English. As a department we have historically demonstrated improving attainment at GCSE and we strive to achieve more each year. Over the five years with us, students will acquire as much essential knowledge as possible, which will in turn help them achieve their highest possible grades and, over recent years, we have had several students who have attained a grade 9 in Language and in Literature. A growing number of students go on to study Language, Literature or Media Studies at Key Stage 5.
The English department runs a book group after school and also offers students the chance to write for Local People, a Macclesfield-based magazine. Through theatre trips, visits from drama companies and opportunities to take part in competitions, we aim to enrich students’ experience of English at The Macclesfield Academy and to provide them with memorable experiences and the cultural capital they will need in their adult lives.
Our students have the opportunity to write for “Local People” (a local magazine distributed across Macclesfield). Recent articles include:
Local People – Autism does not define me by Eleanor Adshead
Local People – Am I a reader by Jaime Duffy
Local People – What becoming a prefect means to me …… by Tristan Staszko
Local People – Work Experience by Ellie Hall
Local People – The Macclesfield Korean Kickboxing academy by James Fowles
Local People – My camping trip to Buxton by Ocean Wolstenholme
Local People – Back to the Future by Shoni Lewis
Through English lessons, students can enter national competitions, such as BBC Radio 2’s 500 word story contest. We also take part in events for National Poetry Day and World Book Day, as well as running trips to the theatre. Students can also become part of a team who help to run the library. Some students in years 9-11 support younger students in the Academy with their reading.
USEFUL LINKS
AQA English Language GCSE specification https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-language-8700
AQA English Literature GCSE specification https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-8702
AQA English subject homepage http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english
BBC Bitesize KS3 English Language http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/z3kw2hv
BBC Bitesize KS3 English Literature http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zykdmp3
BBC Bitesize KS4 English Language http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zr9d7ty
BBC Bitesize KS4 English Literature http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zckw2hv
Interesting texts and ideas about studying English http://www.geoffbarton.co.uk/
Useful revision resource http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/
Revision notes about texts http://www.sparknotes.com/
Revision tips, resources and study tools Exam Time
Tips on coping with the pressure of exams Surviving Exams
Clips on English Literature texts and English Language skills GCSE Pod
English Literature specification and sample papers and mark schemes AQA English Language
For a wide range of revision guides and workbooks for English Literature and Language CGP Guides
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