Welcome to the English Department
Our aim is to support and extend all our students on their reading journey at Coloma. We aim to foster a love of reading by exposing students to a wide range of challenging literary texts, to introduce them to an inspiring range of non fiction and to encourage their independent reading for pleasure (as well as developing their analytical skills).
We see our students as the writers of the future. We aim to develop their technical accuracy and literacy skills to prepare them for the range of writing that will be required of them. We wish to provide them with opportunities to discover their inner poet, novelist, journalist, playwright, and critic. We expect them to develop a love of words and the ability to use them effectively.
We aim to develop their speaking and listening skills to ensure that they are effective, confident communicators who listen responsively to others. We expect them to be able to present their ideas individually as well as being effective team members.
We want them to enjoy English at Coloma, to participate with enthusiasm, to have the confidence to risk ideas, to become independent learners who strive to achieve their best.
Ode to English at Coloma
What do we want for our students?
Exam success of course, but so much more than that:
We want our students to enjoy their lessons;
To embark on a reading journey with us that will last them a lifetime;
To have a love of reading: to discover a passion for books if they don’t already have one, or to intensify the passion they already have;
To encounter some of the great works of Literature (including literature from around the world in translation) and to develop the ability to appreciate a writer’s craft;
To experience the time travelling possibilities of Literature, and the delight of standing in other people’s shoes;
To become magpies, sharp-eyed collectors of words, phrases, ideas (read or heard) worth hoarding for future use in their own writing;
To realise that they are writers and to equip them to feel able to deal with the range of writing opportunities that the future offers them;
To have an open mind to the ideas and texts they will encounter, to respect the views of others and to have the confidence to articulate their own;
To make connections;
To gain the literacy tools they need for the tasks they are offered - and to hone those skills over time;
To be curious and questioning rather than simply accepting;
To think for themselves and have the confidence to go against the grain;
To develop as team members, comfortable within different groups, realising that our class is a team where we are all learning;
To know the rules but have the confidence not to follow them slavishly;
To develop their own style- in creative writing as well as academic essays;
To feel they have produced work they are proud of, including visually and technologically exciting pieces;
To enjoy the process as well as the end product of their endeavours;
To be discoverers, plundering the best that the World Wide Web has to offer to inform, delight and inspire them
And to embark on a journey of lifelong learning upon which everyone’s individual talent and contribution is valued.
Curriculum Content
Key Stage Three
In our Forms and Downloads section, you will find out Key Stage 3 ‘Year Ahead’ newsletters for each year group.
Key Stage Four
GCSE English Language Year 10 - AQA Code: 8700 - Specifications
GCSE English Language Year 11 - AQA Code: 4705 - Specifications
GCSE English Literature Year 10 - AQA Code: 8702 - Specifications
GCSE English Literature Year 11 - AQA Code 9715
Course Content - What Will I Study
This double certificate GCSE is an integrated course. It involves the study of modern prose or drama, literature from different cultures and a Shakespeare text with a text from English Literary Heritage.
Media texts, newspapers, advertisements, travel writing and biography are all explored and opportunities are given for creative writing as well as writing for a variety of different audiences and purposes.
How will my progress be tested and examined?
- English Language 4705
- Unit 1: Understanding and producing non-fiction texts (Written Examination) 40% of CSGE Qualification.
- Unit 2: Speaking and Listening (Controlled Assessment) 20% of GCSE Qualification.
- Unit 3: Understanding spoken and written texts and writing creatively (Controlled Assessment) 40% of GCSE Qualification. Controlled Assessment covering: Extended Reading (Purple Hibiscus, To Kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men), Creative Writing, Spoken Language.
- English Literature 4710 Route A
- Unit 1: Exploring Modern Texts (Written Examination) 40% of GCSE Qualification.Examination covers Modern Drama and Exploring Cultures (Purple Hibiscus, To Kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men).
- Unit 2: Poetry Across Time (Written Examination) 35% of GCSE Qualification. Examination covers Poetry Cluster Anthology on Relationships and Unseen Poetry.
- Unit 3: Significance of Shakespeare and English Literary Heritage (Controlled Assessment) 25% of GCSE Qualification.
Exam advice and Tips
For the latest slides containing exam advice and tips for English Language GCSE, please visit our Forms and Downloads section.
Progression - How will the study of English benefit students’ future education and career?
- GCSE
- A Good GCSE grade in English is an essential requirement for study in most subjects at higher level.
- A good grade in English Literature will be necessary to study the subject at AS/A2.
- All Employers, colleges and university admissions officers value highly good grades in all these subjects.
