5 Ways to support your child

• Attend parents’ evening to discuss progress with class teacher
• Support revision tasks
• Go through mock exams and discuss understanding of the skills required to develop successful answers.
• Support spelling, grammar and punctuation at appropriate opportunities
• Track progress throughout the year using working at assessment grids

Curriculum

Year 9 Overview

Autumn 1 Modern poetry and introduction to GCSE writing

Autumn 2 Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Spring 1 Narrative writing

Spring 2 Blood Brothers by Willy Russell

Summer 1 Descriptive writing

Summer 2 Non-fiction reading and writing

Year 10 overview

Autumn 1 Descriptive Controlled Assessment

Autumn 2 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: studying written language Controlled Assessment

Spring 1 Narrative Controlled Assessment

Spring 2 Spoken Language Controlled Assessment

Summer 1 Non-fiction reading

Summer 2 Non-fiction writing

Year 11 overview

Autumn 1 Shakespeare Controlled Assessment/ Unseen poetry exam preparation

Autumn 2 Unit 1 Language reading exam preparation Mock exams

Spring 1 A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney/ Heroes by Robert Cormier

Spring 2 Unit 2 Language writing exam preparation/ Of Mice and Men exam revision

Summer 1 Final GCSE exam preparation

An impressions question

An Explain question

An Evidence question

A viewpoint/attitude question

An intended audience question

A How question

A comparison questionI know how to….

Write a formal letter….

Write an informal letter….

Write a report…

Essay  question on Of Mice and Men

Unseen Poetry question

An intended audience question

A How question

A comparison question

Extract question on Heroes

Essay  question on Heroes

Extract question on A Taste of Honey

Essay  question on A Taste of Honey

Write a speech…

Write a leaflet…

Homework overview

In year 9, the focus of homework is to develop skills needed to succeed at GCSE. Pupils will be challenged on a range of topics that include poetry analysis, non-fiction writing, non-fiction reading, Shakespeare and GCSE spelling, punctuation and grammar skills. At the end of each independent study, pupils will be expected to peer assess other’s work: the study will then be assessed by the class teacher.

In year 10 and 11, pupils will be expected to complete GCSE tasks that prepare them for their Controlled Assessment or the final examinations. On our English VLE home page, pupils will be directed to the relevant topic that includes:

• Tasks directly linked to current topics being taught in lessons
• Revision material
• Mock exams
• Grade studio
• Mark schemes
• Material that focuses on what the examiner is looking for

Assessment Overview

Year 9

• Poetry analysis assessment October
• Macbeth assessment Dec
• Narrative assessment Feb
• Blood Brother assessment April
• Descriptive writing assessment May
• Non-fiction reading and writing July

Year 10

Language:

• Descriptive assessment Controlled Assessment 7.5% October
• Of Mice and Men Controlled Assessment 15% December
• Narrative Controlled Assessment 7.5% February
• Spoken Language Controlled Assessment 10%  April
• Non-fiction reading mock exam (chance to re-do CA assessments)
• Non-fiction writing mock exam

Year 11

Literature:

• Shakespeare Controlled Assessment 25% October
• Unseen poetry exam preparation December
• A Taste of Honey/Heroes February
• Literature MOCK exam February

Language:

• Reading and writing MOCK exams December
• Reading and writing revision MOCK exams April
• Reading and writing FINAL exams June

Revision Material for Key Stage 4

• WJEC GCSE English and English Language: Higher Student Book ISBN-10: 0435016873 Heinemann
• WJEC GCSE English and English Language: Foundation Student Book ISBN-10: 043501686
• VLE: English pupil page: GSCE revision guide
• GCSE Bitesize: English

Other revision material:

• Heroes by Robert Cormier
• Heroes York Notes: Revision Material
• A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney
• A Taste of Honey York Notes: Revision Material
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Of Mice and Men York Notes: Revision Material

We run Controlled Assessment catch up sessions and revision classes on a regular basis throughout the GCSE course. The majority of our support classes run on a Wednesday and Friday: contact Mr Vallender for additional details.

Examination Dates 2015

English Literature Unit 1 18^th May AM

English Literature Unit 2 22nd May AM

English Language Unit 1 and 2 2 June AM