Department Vision Statement

KS3

Our KS3 curriculum builds on the knowledge and skills acquired at KS2, providing students with opportunities to further develop as confident, empathetic and critical readers and writers. Across KS3, students can explore a wide range of varied and challenging texts - both fiction and non-fiction - in the pursuit of developing a lifelong appreciation of reading. Through the written word, students will critically evaluate the key messages, morals and behaviours presented to them by a number of renowned writers, allowing them to develop a wider appreciation of their own identity and their sense of place in the world. Building in writing for a variety of purposes and audiences, students can practice refining their drafting skills, developing their resilience in writing at length, ultimately crafting writing which is sophisticated and engaging. Being exposed to an increasingly wide breadth of vocabulary and grammar, their understanding of grammatical terms in use will enable them to confidently critique other writers’ work, as well as applying the skills to their own writing. Classroom discussion and debate will enable students to develop speaking and listening skills, thereby promoting confidence and allowing students to communicate their ideas and emotions to others. By the end of KS3, students will have built a solid foundation on which to continue their learning journey with confidence on the way to becoming active members of the school community and beyond.

Exam Group Vision

Our curriculum beyond KS3 continues to broaden students’ experiences of a range of high quality and challenging texts, refining and honing their skills so that they are able to craft texts which meet the needs of specific audiences and purposes. They will further develop their critical thinking skills to enable them to play an active part in wider society. Students will develop their written communication and organisational skills which will allow them to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities in examinations. They will be taught to write formal, academic essays as well as imaginative writing. Throughout the curriculum we will promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word, with a heavy focus on developing tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary.