Our Aim

We know that our students arrive with a huge range of starting points and as such

• We will expose students to a wide variety of texts, far beyond what the AQA Specification stipulates.  We want to immerse students in the written word and teach them how to enjoy reading.  We know that reading is vital to the wellbeing and life chances of our students.
• Students will be prepared to use spoken and written English with confidence, imagination and accuracy, whether this be in job interviews, Sixth Form vocational study or traditional academic pathways and university.
• We want students to know about writers and historical periods and make links between these, their other subjects and their daily lives. 
• We want students not only to be able to pick out information from texts, but make inferences and think critically about what they are reading.
• Students will know how to approach creative, non-fiction, analytical, comparative and evaluative written tasks.

Our Delivery

We know that consistency across the curriculum is key.

• Teachers will read aloud every lesson, bringing texts to life, and, in turn, all students will read aloud once per week.
• We model effective reading, showing students how to annotate.
• We model how to write (with the option of a visualiser) using consistent approaches across the department.
• As well as learning how to write analytically, students will complete at least 1 piece of creative or non-fiction every week.  50% of the English Language GCSE is awarded for writing and this is reflected in the curriculum time we give it. 
• Students will work in exercise books, clearly labelled with the qualification and course component.  Twice per half term, students will write extended pieces which will be kept in portfolio folders.
• The course has been sequenced in such a way as to provide a strong foundation in the study of language and literature, which then leads onto increasingly challenging topics.  We want to ensure students can use prior and existing knowledge to help them access increasingly complex material, building meaningful schema throughout.
• A range of DNAs are used at the start of every lesson; these reflect best practice in terms of daily, weekly and monthly reviews.
• Vocabulary is taught explicitly, in line with best practice.  Students are given and tested regularly on Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary for every unit of work and keep a bank of vocabulary. 
• Whilst there will be a weekly SPaG focus, the teaching of SPaG is fully embedded into courses of study and through effective questioning in lessons.
• Prep is used to consolidate knowledge of what students have learnt and will always be reviewed in the following lesson.
• We embed Logic’s professional competencies into our sequence of lessons and these are taught explicitly.