English & Drama

Curriculum Overview

• English Curriculum KS3
• English Curriculum KS4
• English Language Curriculum KS5
• English Literature Curriculum KS5
• GCSE English 2016-2018 Overview
• A Level English Language Overview
• A Level English Literature Overview

Leventhorpe's English Faculty is fully staffed by qualified subject specialists who are united in their determination to inspire and enthuse their students. The Faculty achieves outstanding results at GCSE and has a large A Level up-take. We offer Literature at A Level and A Level Language.

From Year 8 to Year 11 the students are banded for English. The philosophy behind this banding arrangement, which is adhered to throughout KS3 and KS4, is that it allows for the provision of special educational needs; there is, however, flexibility within the system to pay close attention to the dynamics of individual classes. At Key Stage 4 we currently teach the upper bands in single sex groups. We feel this fosters academic achievement in the brightest students.

We believe that the outstanding results we achieve at GCSE are a direct result of the varied and interesting curriculum we offer from Year 7. Our students have excellent higher order skills and by working closely with our fully qualified Librarian we nurture a love of reading and foster independent learning skills.

Mastering The English Language

Our English language provision is at the heart of all we do. We believe that developing our students as writers and speakers of the English language is key to their future success in the world of work. We are dedicated to fostering technical writing skills as well as our students’ creativity and our KS3 schemes are carefully constructed to ensure students gain reading and writing experience of a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and media texts prior to GCSE. We also believe that wider understanding of the world in which we live is a significant element of success as a producer of many forms of writing. In order to facilitate this wider knowledge, the Faculty is committed to encouraging the acquisition of both traditional library research skills as well as effective use of the Internet. All members of the Faculty share a strong belief in the importance of learning through talk. Whole class and group discussion are further mechanisms through which we promote our students’ interest and understanding of the ethical and philosophical aspect of the subject as well as extending their spoken English skills in order to further prepare them for their future lives

Developing Lovers of Literature

We seek to promote a genuine love of poetry, plays and prose amongst our students across the key stages. Through the selection of varied and challenging texts which are drawn from the literary cannon, our literary heritage as well as texts from other cultures and traditions, we hope to ensure that our students have the opportunity to experience the widest possible breadth of literature in English. As a Faculty, we have a particular interest in promoting literature from other cultures and are proud of our KS3 literature choices which encourage our students to engage in global issues. At KS4 teachers are given freedom to select the examination texts which best suit the interests and skills of the learners in their care. As part of our A level Literature provision, we are committed to a bold interpretation of the coursework units in which our students are supported in independent, university style study of novels of their own choice. We work closely with our Librarian, who is a significant and highly valued member of our Faculty. It is this close relationship which enables us to support reading for pleasure through library lessons and book groups.

Extra-Curricular Activities and Trips

Where possible we organize theatre trips to see texts the students are studying. We have a wealth of speakers, theatre groups and authors visiting the school annually.

Any regular curriculum trips or occasions/ performances/ projects and competitions/visiting speakers at each key stage

• KS3: A Shakespeare production to support their work on A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• KS4: Theatre Trips and focused Literature revision days.
• Years 12/13: Theatre Trips and enrichment days such as visiting The British Library.