English
As an English teacher I’m inspired on a daily basis by the great works of literature, from the novels of Dickens and Orwell to the plays of Wilde and Shakespeare. It’s a great privilege to be able to share my love of literature with the students of St Augustine’s. We have so many enthusiastic writers here that I’m sure one day soon we’ll produce our own Zadie Smith, Carol Ann Duffy or Simon Armitage.
At St Augustine’s there’s an incredible range of opportunities for students of English across the Key Stages. For Key Stage 3 students look at a range of powerful texts such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm and Romeo and Juliet. As they start their GCSEs we build on this, studying increasingly more challenging and exciting novels, plays and poems including poetry from a diverse range of writers such as John Agard, Imtiaz Dharker and Wordsworth. As they reach the Sixth Form, students can specialise, focusing on English Literature or the combined Language and Literature A Level course. The Sixth Form English students also make up the editorial team of the popular college magazine Stamp.
Studying English at St Augustine’s will help you to unlock great works of literature and help you build your own communication skills as you engage in debates, discussions and presentations. For further detail about specific aspects of the curriculum, please follow the links below.
- Mr M Powell, English Teacher and Assistant Head
Key Stage 3
Year 7
Term 1: Childhood and Growing Up
Term 2: The life, times and works of Charles Dickens
Term 3: The Village
Term 4: Animal Farm by George Orwell
Terms 5 & 6: An introduction to William Shakespeare
Knowledge and Skills: Nature Poetry
Knowledge and Skills: The Village
Year 8
Term 1: Gothic Fiction
Term 2: Monsters
Term 3: Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Term 4: Romantic Poetry
Terms 5 & 6: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Knowledge and Skills: Monsters
Knowledge and Skills: Much ado about Nothing
Year 9
Term 1: Romeo and Juliet
Term 2: The Modern Novel (Lord of the Flies or The Woman in Black)
Term 3: War Poetry
Term 4: Non-Fiction Texts connected by theme (for example, ‘travel’ or ‘food’)
Terms 5 & 6: An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley (GCSE English literature set text)
GCSE English Literature
In GCSE English Literature, you will explore texts from a literary, personal and historical perspective and offers an experience of Literature today, Literature globally and The Literary Heritage. You will be taught how to respond to texts analytically, looking at key literary concepts including character, setting, voice, theme, relationships, context and audience. There are two exam papers, both content and skills based.
You will study one Shakespeare text and a variety of Prose, Poetry and Drama texts from the Heritage and Contemporary Cannons:
Shakespeare - Macbeth
19th Century Novel - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Modern Prose or Drama - An Inspector Calls
One cluster (15 poems) from AQA poetry anthology, Poems Past and Present - Power and Conflict
Unseen Poetry - you will respond to an unseen poem before comparing it to another unseen poem
GCSE English Language
There are two exam papers, which are both skills based, rather than content based. The exams will test your ability to respond analytically to unseen extracts of Literature and Non-Fiction writing, and test reading and creative writing skills.
Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing:
- Respond to an unseen Literacy non-fiction text
- Creative Writing: Descriptive or Narrative writing
Paper 2: Writers’ Perspectives and viewpoints
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Respond to two unseen non-fiction texts
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Creative Writing: Writing to present a viewpoint
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