English
In English we aim to instil a love of literature and enjoyment of learning that will drive our students towards academic success and personal fulfilment beyond the classroom.
We focus on delivering an ambitious and knowledge-rich curriculum from years 7-13, developing independent, critical thinkers who push themselves towards excellent outcomes. We are proud that, through our diverse and progressive curriculum, we nurture outward-looking young women who are sensitive and responsive to the changing world around them.
Our core values, which are built around the Academy motto of ‘Character, Courage and Conscience’, and inform everything we try to do, are:
Character
- We develop Independent, critical thinkers who are eager to acquire challenging knowledge and apply it with confidence
- We want to cultivate a love of literature in our students, students who enjoy reading widely and are curious about the world
Courage
- We want students to show a constant willingness to improve and who are willing to make mistakes and build their resilience
- We teach students to develop creativity and encourage individual self-expression
Conscience
- We encourage sensitivity and an ability to explore viewpoints different from the students’ own and beyond their own experiences
- We develop outward looking young women who can articulate their ideas with confidence and composure
At HGAED, we are proud that we have developed and continue to build a curriculum that is progressive, ambitious and meticulously planned. We are committed to building a curriculum that reflects life in the 21st Century. It is underpinned by its breadth, deep knowledge, and diversity from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5.
Key Stage 3
Our Key Stage 3 Curriculum is our pride; it is built around offering students a breadth and depth of exposure to different texts, genres and styles. Each unit is planned so that core concepts, knowledge and skills are taught throughout, and that these are retained and built upon throughout the Key Stage.
We also aim to teach a knowledge-rich curriculum which is collaboratively planned by everyone in the team and is built around the learning of ambitious content, vocabulary and the adept and increasingly skilful application of what is learned.
Each term is centred around a specific genre and core text, but within each unit students will explore well-chosen supplementary literature and non-fiction texts to strengthen and broaden their knowledge and understanding of each genre. We’ve also developed writing and critical reading units that are bespoke and designed to dovetail with each unit so that the learning is seamlessly and careful built upon.
In Year 7 students will study centrally planned, ambitious units on War, Fantasy and Comedy, studying texts such as Coraline, War Poetry and Shakespeare’s Comedies. In Year 8 students explore units on the Gothic, Autobiography and Poetry through the Ages, reading contemporary and classic short stories, I Am Malala and poetry from across time and different cultures. In Year 9 students move into deeper and closer study of individual texts, looking at Power and Protest poetry in the Autumn, World Literature such as the Nigerian novel Purple Hibiscus in the Spring and Shakespearean Tragedy in the Summer.
Key Stage 4
Our Key Stage 4 Curriculum has been built to maximise the success of our students at GCSE, to ensure that students enjoy their English studies at Key Stage 4 and want to continue into A-Level following their excellent outcomes.
Our results have been excellent over a number of years. Our last external examinations in 2019 were some of the best in the Federation, with a Progress score of 1.17 in English and 43% of students achieving grades 7-9.
We study texts such as Jekyll and Hyde, Macbeth, Pigeon English, Lord of the Flies and the Love and Relationships Poetry cluster and we are always looking to develop new schemes and units to continue to grow the department and what we offer.
We blend our teaching of Language and Literature so that students study both disciplines side by side during each term, with each Language and Literature unit carefully mapped together so that skills are built in a coherent sequence throughout the two year course.
Key Stage 5
At Key Stage 5 we are proud that we retain strong cohort sizes; when students have enjoyed and had success at Key Stage 4, we are happy for them to continue their English journeys with us. At Key Stage 5 we have also had good success over recent years and have seen our results in the Edexcel English Literature qualification improve. In 2019, the last external examinations almost 60% of the cohort achieved B+. in 2021 we had four students achieve an A* and two students go on to study English Literature at degree level.
We try to choose our texts carefully for A-Level, we study the Windrush novella The Lonely Londoners as a prose texts alongside Heart of Darkness as part of the Colonisation and its Aftermath unit. We study Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest alongside Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for Drama, and study Poems of the Decade alongside Philip Larkin for the Poetry unit.
We give our students free choice with their coursework comparison unit and carefully guide them in the reading, planning and writing. Enrichment is important to us at HGAED and we offer poetry and theatre trips throughout the year as well as organising academic lectures for our students
We use our well-stocked library to encourage reading for pleasure through English and to give students the opportunity to read more widely around the taught texts in KS3, KS4 and KS5. Students at Key Stage 3 have a literacy lesson once a week where they make use of the library facilities, complete Bedrock literacy and do critical reading lessons on various current affairs articles.
We offer excellent enrichment opportunities to students, including numerous theatre trips throughout the year. We also run numerous clubs through English, including Debate Mate, Poetry Club, and various reading groups.
The department is strong with a range of experienced and highly skilled teachers who make English enjoyable, challenging and rewarding to all students. Our aim is to teach the students extremely well, impart our own knowledge and passion for English and give students an enjoyable and successful time in the English classroom.
We have a range of examiners within the department who offer expertise across GCSE and A-Level and we are a stable department who have built strong and positive relationships with our students over a number of years.
The curriculum overview for each year group can be downloaded below.
