Curriculum Intent
At Colmers, the teaching of English grows out of shared beliefs about what it means to be human. These shared beliefs inform what we teach and how we teach across the Key Stages. We are sociable beings. English is a subject built upon the human need to communicate effectively – in reading, writing, speaking and listening. High levels of Literacy and Oracy and a strong command of Grammar are essential skills to thrive in 21st century Britain. We are storytellers. Human beings make sense of their world through telling stories. At Colmers, we seek to develop passionate and wide-ranging readers who are familiar with the variety of stories that cultures and individuals tell about themselves. We look at how stories are constructed and how stories have influenced other stories through the ages. We are creative. At Colmers, we believe that reading and writing are inextricably intertwined. We want students to create their own texts and to use their reading to develop their narrative vocabulary. We also encourage readers who challenge the stories that cultures tell about themselves. We are curious. We want to explore the how and the why of communication in all its forms. We are ethical agents. Communication is at the heart of a full human life and it is an ethical imperative that human beings are able to communicate openly, inclusively and creatively. There is however a world beyond the page. We want the teaching of English to offer a rich variety of learning experiences.
As well as the shared beliefs that underpin our curriculum, the teaching of English is also built upon key threshold concepts that we refer to as our Bookmarks. These Bookmarks are at the heart of English teaching across the Key Stages:
· An awareness of the ways in which language can affect readers.
· An understanding that writers create texts for a purpose (the WHY) and write to achieve an effect (the HOW).
· An understanding the effect of context, both on writers and readers.
· An understanding the need to use supporting evidence for ideas.
· An understand of the importance of structure (morphology/syntax/whole text)
· An understanding that language can be analysed to reveal a variety of meanings.
· An understanding that spoken language is an important life-skill and need explicit teaching
Key end points
Based around our English Bookmarks, we want students to develop key Writing and Reading skills across Key Stage Three. Writing assessments will track the students’ ability to write creatively and accurately. Reading assessments will grow out of the texts studied and will focus on Vocabulary, Textual Knowledge, Comprehension and Analysis. These skills give a firm foundation for success at Key Stages 4 and 5. At Key Stage Four we focus on Literature and Creative Writing in Year Ten with frequent and regular use of low stakes testing as a means of both remembering and thinking about these texts. In Year Eleven the repeated and recursive work on the English Bookmarks and the curriculum content will become exam-focused. At Key Stage Five, attention to the Bookmarks and coverage of the texts is balanced, culminating in the Non-Exam Assessment piece produced in Year 13.
