English

Autumn  

Topic title: Myths and Allusions 

Students will learn about the different Greek Gods and mythical characters alluded to across literature. They will learn about their individual stories and explore the characteristics of heroes and villains. By the end of the unit, they will delve into famous biblical allusions that are still referred to today.  

Topic title: The Tempest 

Students will study the Shakespearean text, the Tempest, where they will be introduced to play terminology and Shakespearean language for the first time. Furthermore, they will be exposed to contextual ideas around regicide and the attitudes of 16th century England. This will support them in exploring key ideas around power, forgiveness and the supernatural.  

Spring 

Topic title: Lord of Flies  

Students will study Lord of the Flies and through this, will learn about the conventions of a novel and begin to analyse key themes and characters. Through this, they will touch upon biblical allusions learnt in half term 1, whilst exploring new ideas around class and war in 20th century Britain.   

Summer  

Topic title: Intro to Poetry 

Students will begin their first poetry unit by looking at famous poems from across the globe. They will be introduced to key poetic terms and will practice both analysing them and applying them to their own written work. This builds upon poetic devices explored in the Tempest, in autumn 2.  

Autumn  

Topic title: Romeo and Juliet 

Students will continue their Shakespeare study with ‘Romeo and Juliet’, revising play terminology taught during The Tempest and building upon this, through learning terminology related to the genre of tragedy. They will analyse themes and characters within a new Shakespearean context (Elizabethan era), for example patriarchal attitudes that will feed into the work done in year 9 around gender. 

Spring  

Topic title: In the Sea there are Crocodiles  

Students will build on their understanding of novel conventions taught in Lord of the Flies and develop their understanding of structural methods used within a novel. They will look at the struggles people face due to conflict and this unit aims to support students in feeling empathy for people around them. They will analyse the non-fiction form and deepen their ability to comment on the effects of structural methods.   

Summer 

Topic title: Shape of Stories 

Students will study how stories are structured to interest the reader. They will learn about the theoretical structures writers employ such as Freytag’s pyramid and will explore varying structural and narrative terminology. Through this, they will analyse the effectiveness of these structures 

Topic title: Inspirational figures 

Students will continue to focus on building empathy for others and will study inspirational figures from across the globe, over time. They will explore what makes each figure an inspiration to us in Britain and will then use these ideas to express their own opinions about cultural topics, building on students’ understanding of the world.   

Autumn 

Topic title: Blood Brothers 

Students will study their first modern, 20th century play, called Blood Brothers. They will build on their understanding of play terminology from Richard III and Romeo and Juliet but apply this to new contexts. They will continue to develop their understanding of social class and British politics and use this to support their ability to analyse writer’s choices. They will focus on characterization and will develop the skills needed for academic writing. 

Spring  

Topic title: Women in Literature 

Students will explore how women have been viewed and presented over time in literature and society. They will begin their study by looking at 17th century views and will then track the changes in how women have been viewed over time, up to the modern day, through the exploration of different non-fiction texts. They will look in more depth at the finer nuances of language, exploring the writer’s tone and how this is used to express a viewpoint. 

Topic title: Rhetoric 

After studying examples of non-fiction extracts in the previous unit, students will then learn about rhetoric and use the devices studied previously to then apply to their own pieces of rhetorical, non-fiction writing. They will study the history of rhetoric and explore a plethora of techniques used, with the aim to then write and perform, developing their speaking and listening skills. 

Summer  

Topic title: Identity Poetry 

Students will build on their understanding of class and gender, and through this unit, link their prior knowledge to ideas about our identity and how identity shapes us. They will do this through the study of identity poetry that explores cultural, national, gender and class. They will revise their knowledge of poetic terms and use this to articulate the impact of these in a detailed and thoughtful way, developing their academic writing.  

Topic title: Women in Black 

Students will be introduced to gothic conventions and will study these through an exploration of A Woman in Black. They will study different literary ideas and movements within this text and will feed into work done when studying A Christmas Carol in year 10. 

Autumn 

Topic title: A Christmas Paper and Language Paper 1 

Students will study the 19th century text A Christmas Carol. They will build upon their knowledge of the gothic taught in year 9 through Women in Black and apply these conventions to this novel study. Their study will be rooted in securing knowledge of Victorian context, plot, characters, themes, and key quotes.  They will develop their ability to track character arcs and themes across the novel, making thoughtful comments on Dickens’ purpose and message, linking to Victorian contexts.  

In conjunction with their study of A Christmas Carol, students will also be introduced to Language paper 1, where they will comprehend fiction extracts and identity and analyse writers’ use of methods and the effects these have on readers. Alongside this, they will also learn how to effectively write their own examples of fictional writing. 

Topic title: Speaking and Listening Endorsement 

Students will be required, as part of the English language GCSE, to write a speech and be filmed delivering said speech which will be followed by a question-and-answer session from the audience. Each student must complete this element of the course. Students will be supported with choosing a relevant and sophisticated topic alongside be given guidance on feedback on writing an effective speech. This endorsement will be graded as follows: pass, merit, distinction.  

Spring 

Topic title: An Inspector Calls and Language Paper 2 

Students will study the 20th century morality play, An Inspector Calls. They will build upon their knowledge of modern plays that they studied in year 9 with Blood Brothers but here, they will develop their ability to make connections across texts, analysing patterns through the lens of character and theme development. This will be rooted in secure understanding of Edwardian contexts, plot and character. 

In conjunction with their study of An Inspector Calls, students will also be introduced to Language paper 2, where they will comprehend unseen non-fiction extracts and analyse and evaluate writers’ viewpoints, as well as writing their own pieces of transactional writing. 

Summer 

Topic title: Macbeth and Language Paper 1 

Students will study the famous Shakespearean play Macbeth, revising dramatic terms and language taught in KS3. They will focus on a deep knowledge of the plot, characters, and quotes. This study will develop their ability to track character arcs and themes across a play, making thoughtful comments on Shakespeare’s purpose and message, linking it to Jacobean contexts.  

In conjunction with their study of Macbeth, students will also reivse Language paper 1, where they will comprehend unseen fiction extracts, analyse and evaluate language and structural methods, as well as writing their own pieces of creative writing. 

Topic title: Unseen Poetry 

Students will end year 10 with an introduction to unseen poetry. Here, students will be building on work done at KS3 and be taught how to approach and analyse unseen poems. This study will focus on securing knowledge of poetic terminology and focusing on building confidence in tackling unknown content. 

Autumn 

Topic title: Power and Conflict poetry 

Students will study 15 poems in the Power and Conflict Anthology. They will study each poem in depth, tracking the presentation of key themes and ideas through the analysis of poetic methods. They will learn how to compare ideas within poems and write detailed comparative essays. This will build on student understanding of poetry, explored in year 10 and KS3.  

Topic title: Language Paper 2 

Students will pick up and continue their study of Language paper 2 that began in year 10 and deepen their understanding of non-fiction texts through analysing writer’s methods and viewpoints. Alongside this, they will be exposed to compelling examples of transactional writing and will practice writing their own pieces of transactional writing. 

Spring 

Topic title: Revision 

Students will revise both language and literature GCSEs. Content will be interleaved, building towards terminal exams in the summer term.  

Students will cover: 

• Language paper 1 
• Language paper 2 
• Macbeth 
• Jekyll and Hyde 
• An Inspector Calls 
• Unseen Poetry 
• Power and Conflict poetry 

Summer 

Topic title: Revision 

Students will revise both language and literature GCSEs. Content will be interleaved, building towards terminal exams in the summer term.  

Students will cover: 

• Language paper 1 
• Language paper 2 
• Macbeth 
• Jekyll and Hyde 
• An Inspector Calls 
• Unseen Poetry 
• Power and Conflict poetry 

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-8702 

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-language-8700 

KS4 Book club 

KS3 Book club 

English Scholars 

Creative Writing club 

Comic book club 

SPARX reader 

Massolit 

Study English Language or English literature at United Sixth Form 

Where can English qualifications take you? 

Journalist 

Writer 

Copywriter 

Editor 

Web content  

Advertising 

Marketing 

English Teacher 

Public relations 

Librarian 

Revision Guides  

CGP KS3 workbook 

CGP KS3 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar 

CGP Macbeth text guide and workbook 

CGP Jekyll and Hyde text guide and workbook 

CGP An Inspector Calls text guide and workbook 

CGP Power and Conflict poetry text guide and workbook 

Other Links (social media, YouTube) 

GW English: GW English - YouTube 

Mr Bruff: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM2vdqz-7e4HAuzhpFuRY8w 

Academic Reading 

A Short History of Literature, John Sutherland 

How to Read Like a Professor, Thomas C Foster 

The Connell Guides to Macbeth, An Inspector Calls