English

In English at HLAW pupils follow an engaging and challenging curriculum designed to promote and foster curiosity. 

We strive to develop a sophisticated understanding of language and its effects. By studying a broad range of literature, students discover the wonder of the English language and the world around them. Through this, students not only enhance and hone their communication skills but are prepared for life beyond the classroom.

In Year 7, we build on students’ skills from primary school and focus on introducing them to a wide range of voices, opinions and experiences through both fiction and non-fiction texts. 

We start the year with a creative writing unit on ‘narrative through film’, introducing students to structural devices through the medium of film with fun, short stories that exemplify skills of subversion, foreshadowing and symbolism. We follow this with a dystopian text, The Giver by Lois Lowry, where students are introduced to the concept of genre and follow the story of a young Jonas who is gifted with memories from the past and fights to improve the world he lives in.

In Term 2, students study a ‘diverse short stories’ fiction unit to encourage them to see the world through other people’s perspectives, build empathy skills and begin to build oracy skills through discussion and debate. In the second half of the term, they build on these ideas through a non-fiction unit ‘Voice for Change’ where they explore speeches by individuals such as Greta Thunberg and Malcolm X and develop an understanding of rhetorical writing and speaking skills – an essential life skill.

Year 7 students finish the year with a ‘Protest Poetry’ unit where they now think about human experiences and perspectives through poetry and have the opportunity to read and write their own poems. Through our units, we aim to foster creativity, curiosity and build solid foundations for our Year 7 to become excellent students of English. 

Throughout the rest of KS3, their journey through literature continues, with texts such as Annie John and Twelfth Night in Year 8 and The Speckled Band and Romeo and Juliet in Year 9. Alongside this, they get the unique opportunity to develop their oracy skills further through our Legacy of Empire unit in Year 8 and a new ‘topical talk’ unit based on discussion of current affairs and world events. Through this diverse range of text types and topics, our Year 8 and Year 9 students emerge into the GCSE years with a critical eye and the ability to express complex ideas about important texts and topics. 

In Year 10, students begin their Key Stage 4 curriculum studying a wide range of texts including: An Inspector Calls, Macbeth and the Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology. Students consider the big ideas of morality, power and equality whilst carefully considering the writer’s purpose and appreciating the writer's craft. The focus of Year 10 will be to gain core knowledge of advanced texts whilst building confidence so students can express their ideas fluently and with technical accuracy. We also begin to explore the English Language GCSE with a focus on fiction and non-fiction extracts, descriptive and transactional writing and this continues in more depth in Year 11. 

In Year 11, they complete their final GCSE text, A Christmas Carol, and we work on consolidating and mastering knowledge from Year 10, building independence and resilience, and developing skills to access top grades at GCSE level. They will be challenged to think in more depth about each text and form more thoughtful and developed, and for many, critical and conceptual approaches to these texts. 

A-Level English is designed to encourage a deeper and more profound appreciation of English Literature. The curriculum inspires independent thought, analysis and criticism of texts throughout history including our core texts: The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, Richard III, A Doll’s House and Rossetti poetry. Through our lessons, our students build their debating, discussion and analytical writing and reading skills. We foster what we hope will be a life-long love of literature. Students also have the exciting opportunity to complete research presentations and extended writing tasks through the NEA coursework unit where they study two further texts, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Bell Jar, as well as Feminine Gospels poetry by Carol Ann Duffy. A-Level English is a facilitating subject, and our students leave prepared to enter the world of further education or work, armoured with an enviable skillset to enable them to succeed in any future pathway they may choose.