ENGLISH

Over the course of Years 7-9, students will write imaginatively in diverse forms and for a variety of purposes and audiences, including autobiography, letters and stories. We build on student experience at Key Stage 2, developing subject-specific skills and consolidating the fundamentals of spelling, punctuation and grammar embedded by Year 6. By Year 9, they will also be introduced to the format of the GCSE English Language papers, developing their transactional writing skills. They will study writers and texts from the traditional canon, such as Shakespeare, also being introduced to literature from other cultures and traditions. A library lesson every fortnight gives them the time and space to read for pleasure, and promotes good academic practice through library skills sessions. Spoken Language assessments also take place across the Lower School. Opportunities for super-curricular activities include competitions, such as the BBC 500 words competition, something for which every Year 8 student has entered in past years. Author visits and poetry societies provide further opportunities for engagement.  

All students study English Language and English Literature at GCSE, following the Eduqas specifications in both. There are three strands to English Language: Reading, Writing and Spoken Language. There are regular opportunities for assessment and feedback in all three areas. Teachers have some flexibility in the selection of set texts for English Literature, although all must study a Shakespeare play and an Eduqas curated anthology of poetry. Texts chosen include Romeo and Juliet OR an alternative Shakespeare play, Jekyll and Hyde and An Inspector Calls. We arrange trips to see plays in performance where possible.  The culture of promoting reading for pleasure continues to be at the heart of all we do, and students are invited to use the Senior Library for their fortnightly session. An example of the extracurricular activities on offer is the English Speaking Union Public Speaking Competition, in which Pate’s students were national champions for 2019.  

Studying English Literature at A Level allows students to develop the skills learned at GCSE, adding a depth of critical appreciation to their reading. Classes are invariably smaller, and the learning is much more student driven. Group discussion is the key to success, and we aim to promote an environment that is safe, friendly and supportive. Set texts are taught for drama and poetry, supported by work on prose writing from specific periods of history, covering the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. Text choices include Hamlet OR Henry IV Part 1, A Streetcar Named Desire and Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy.  Finally, there is a coursework element, in which there is an opportunity to write a comparative study of two prose texts. Where set texts are staged, we will take students to see them, and we have also attended text-based RSC workshops. Many students, around 5% of the entire year group historically, choose to study English at university and this is a proud tradition that we aim to uphold.  

KEY STAGE 3

  • Autobiography
  • Year 7 Poetry Booklet
  • Class reader chosen from;
    • Skellig
    • Private Peaceful
    • Friedrich
  • Transactional writing
  • History of English Literature
  • Detective Fiction 
  • Shakespeare: The Tempest 
  • Class reader: Animal Farm 
  • Transactional Writing 
  • Year 8 Poetry Booklet
  • Year 9 Poetry Booklet
  • Class reader: Anita and Me 
  • Shakespeare play: Twelfth Night 
  • Transactional Writing 
  • Introduction to GCSE English Language Paper 1

KEY STAGE 4 - GCSE

English Literature

  • English Literature: 20th Century Text (Paper 2) An Inspector Calls 
  • English Literature: Unseen Poetry (Paper 2)
  • English Literature: 19th Century Text (Paper 2) Jekyll and Hyde
  • English Literature: Unseen Poetry (Paper 2)
  • English Literature: Poetry Anthology (Paper 1) 

English Language

  • English Language: Paper 1 (Section A-20th Century Literary fiction) 
  • English Language: Paper 1 (Section B-Creative Prose Writing)
  • English Language: Paper 1 (Section B-Creative Prose Writing) 
  • English Language: Introduction to Spoken Language
  • English Language: Spoken Language assessment

English Literature

  • English Literature: Shakespeare (Paper 1) Romeo and Juliet OR Macbeth OR Othello OR the Merchant of Venice
  • English Literature: Poetry Anthology (Paper 1) 
  • English Literature: Revision and timed essays
  • English Literature & Language: Revision and timed essays

English Language

  • English Language: Paper 1 (Section A-20th Century Literary fiction)
  • English Language: Paper 1 (Section B-Creative Prose Writing)
  • English Language: Paper 2 (Section A-19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction)
  • English Language: Paper 2 (Section B-Transactional/Persuasive Writing)

KEY STAGE 5 - A LEVEL

Teacher A

  • Introduction to study of tragedy/History
  • William Shakespeare: Hamlet OR Henry IV Part I (Paper 2)
  • Introduction to study of Prose
  • Unseen Prose: 1880-1910 + 1918-39
  • Introduction to Coursework module/focus on history, development and study of the novel 
  • Coursework: post-2000 novel
  • Unseen Prose revision
  • Exam + feedback
  • Coursework: Prose choices
  • Introduction to Philip Larkin: The Whitsun Weddings + Carol Ann Duffy: Mean Times (Paper 1)

Teacher B

  • Course outline
  • Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire (Paper 2)
  • John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi (Paper 2)
  • Introduction to the study of poetry
  • Unseen Poetry (Paper 3)
  • Coursework: pre-2000 Prose choices
  • Unseen Poetry revision
  • Exam + feedback
  • Coursework: Prose choices
  • Introduction to Chaucer (Paper 1)

Teacher A

  • Coursework: work on choices and titles
  • Philip Larkin: The Whitsun Weddings + Carol Ann Duffy: Mean Times (Paper 1)
  • Unseen Prose revision
  • Exam + feedback
  • Coursework essay
  • William Shakespeare: Hamlet OR Henry IV Part I (Paper 2)
  • Revision and timed essays

Teacher B

  • Coursework: work on essay skills
  • Geoffrey Chaucer: The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale
  • Unseen Poetry revision
  • Exam + feedback
  • Coursework essay
  • Coursework hand-in
  • John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi + Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire (Paper 2)
  • Revision and timed essays