ENGLISH - KS3
 

YEAR 7

TERM

UNIT OF STUDY

KEY SKILLS / LEARNING

Autumn

Origins & Language

Beowulf, Gawain, King Arthur, Faerie Queene, etc.) 
Introduction to Shakespeare 
Shakespeare extracts
Oracy skills & research skills

• Students develop an understanding of the History of the English and the evolution of language.

• Students are exposed to Shakespearean texts across plays and genres.

• Students develop oracy skills through planning the research project.

Spring

Transformation

Victorian era texts
Frankenstein (play adaptation by Pullman) 
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (extracts)
Industrial Revolution & Context
Fiction & Nonfiction extracts

• Students develop a deeper understanding of a specific time period.

• Students read widely, non-fiction & fiction texts to broaden exposure to wider texts.

• Students are able to respond to texts by developing knowledge of perceptions & impressions.

Summer

Telling Tales

Novel ‘Animal Farm’ & ‘The Island at the End of Everything’
Introducing ‘why?’
Introducing language analysis
Focus on setting & character description
Opening to a story

• Students study a novel in full and begin to understand the skill of analysis.

• Students begin to understand the development of a plot and character. 

• Students continue to broaden their vocabulary through exposure to wider lesson texts.

YEAR 8

Autumn

Innocence & Corruption

Novel ‘LOTF’ & ‘Welcome to Nowhere’
Poetry
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Character essay

• Students study a novel in full and further enhance analysis skills.

• Students develop their understanding of plot, character, context, themes & symbols.

• Students develop their ability to respond to a text using evidence and techniques to validate interpretations.

Spring

Power

Play ‘The Tempest’ 
Poetry
Descriptive Writing 
Theme essay

•  Students study a Shakespearean play and develop on exposure to the language, script reading, and genre.

•  Students respond critically to character, theme, pathos, playwright messages, symbol & dramatic irony.

• Students continue to read widely in wider reading lessons to broaden skills with core vocabulary interwoven in scheme.

Summer

Heroes & Horrors

Creating a story (beginning to middle)
Poetry unit
Comparison essay
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts

• Students develop understanding of the writer’s craft, using researched context to ground responses.

• Students begin to develop comparison skills through poetry. 

• Students begin to adapt authorial skills in their own writing when writing the beginning of a short story.

YEAR 9

Autumn

Dreams & Nightmares

Novel 'Of Mice and Men' & 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Narrative
Dystopias & Utopias

• Students explore and unpack themes, motifs, imagery, foreshadowing, and other literary conventions in the class novel.

• Students are exposed to a broad yet deep curriculum that ranges in fiction & non-fiction texts alongside the study of the novel.

• Students harness the writer’s craft in their own narrative writing.

Spring

Our World

Global Issues
Transactional Writing
Unseen Poetry
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts

• Students explore big issues facing the world today by reading widely on global issues.

• Students express their opinions through oracy tasks, creative tasks & non-fiction writing tasks.

• Students are encouraged to write persuasively and develop their Spoken Language skills.

Summer

Crime & Conflict

'Macbeth'
Dramatic monologue
Fiction & Non-fiction extracts
Theme essay

• Students critically study a Shakespearean play and further build on their core concepts of playwright, audience, character motive, context, literary techniques, and language analysis.

• Students employ empathy to create a creative and convincing character voice in a dramatic monologue. 

• Students respond critically to an extract and whole play to display their ability to analyse and track a text in its entirety.