Key Stage 3 English

We have planned all of our English lessons based on the very exciting, brand new Curriculum for Wales.

Each term your learning will be based around ‘The big question’, as well as creative projects and core tasks:-

• Writing – persuasive writing, articles, narratives etc.
• Reading – locating information, analysing language, using reading behaviours and skills etc.
• Oracy - story telling, preparing speeches, taking on a role, debating etc.

Year 7

Term 1 - Myths and Legends

Term 2 - How does the past create our present?

Term 3 - Do humans need to talk?

• Once a month Year 7 learners head to the library for a fun-filled lesson with our amazing librarian - Mrs. Smith.
• Mrs. Smith will focus on nurturing the love of books and reading which began when you first started school.
• These lessons are always fun, imaginative and creative.

Year 8

Term 1 - Is it important to have heroes? - War Poetry

Term 2 - Why are historical traditions still relevant in today's society? - "Heroes and Villains" Macbeth

Term 3 - How important are National Parks?

• Once a fortnight Year 8 learners head to the library for our Empathy reading lesson.
• We will focus on nurturing the love of books and reading as well as fostering and building on empathy skills.
• These lessons are always fun, imaginative and creative.

More information about the Year 7 and 8 learning journey can be found here.

Key Stage 3 Welsh Second Language

The new Schemes of Learning for the Curriculum for Wales allow our learners to become ambitious and capable learners, enterprising and creative contributors but also ethical and informed citizens of the local, national and global community. Through learning Welsh as a second language, you will also get an insight into our culture, history and become a part of our Cynefin.

Year 7

Term 1 - Myths and Legends

• Pwy ydw i?
  • Building on descriptions, The Mabinogion

Term 2 - How does the past create our present?

• Ysgol
  • Subjects, uniform, school food, school clubs

• Hobiau

  • Likes and dislikes, what they do in their free time, club

Term 3 - Do humans need to talk?

• Ardal

  • Going shopping, finding your way, more detailed directions, family, researching and describing a journey.​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​Through these topic areas, you learn useful vocabulary and grammar, and also ways in which to help and support your progress in literacy. We try to encourage you to be creative through games and interactive resources, but we also attempt to make things more interesting and cultural.

Year 8

Term 1 - Heroes and villains - how do countries revere their national heroes?

• Welsh Heroes past and present
  • Short biographies (a wiki page), Third person narratives, Past and present tense, Place, descriptions, family, schooling/education, work history.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Term 2 - How are a country’s values represented in their traditions?

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Name Un Mewn Miliwn
  • Patagonia, Eisteddfod, Use of song and the meaning behind the lyrics - Yma O Hyd (Dafydd Iwan Documentary from S4C), Promotion of the Welsh Language - Episode of the Crown (Prince Charles Learning Welsh)

Term 3 - How does a country protect its culture and identity in the face of tourism

• Trefnu Trip
  • ​​​​​​​Where would learners like to go and why?
• Gwyliau
  • past tense, writing a report, writing a postcard

Through these topic areas, we delve even more deeply into the history and culture of the main language that you are studying - “Wonderful Wales””, we will discuss the history of the Welsh language and the government's initiative ‘Un mewn Miliwn’ and the use of the Welsh language in other countries (Patagonia), alongside Welsh cultural celebrations. We will also focus the learning on the local area, learning about National Parks especially the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, this tends to lead to trips (locally), where possible involving rangers from the National Park authority.

Key Stage 3 International Languages

The new Schemes of Learning for the Curriculum for Wales allow our learners to become ambitious and capable learners, enterprising and creative contributors but also ethical and informed citizens of the local, national and global community. Through learning your main international language, you will also get an insight into how other languages work.

Year 7

• Term 1 - Myths and Legends
• Term 2 - How does the past create our present?
• Term 3 - Do humans need to talk?

Through these topic areas, you learn useful vocabulary and grammar, and also ways in which to help and support your progress in literacy. We try to encourage you to be creative through collages, but we also attempt to make things more interesting and cultural.

Year 8

• Term 1 - How does a country protect its culture and identity in the face of tourism?
• Term 2 - How are a country’s values represented in their traditions?
• Term 3 - Heroes and villains - how do countries revere their national heroes?

Through these topic areas, we delve even more deeply into the history and culture of the main language that you are studying - “Fabulous France” or “Spectacular Spain”, and discuss issues such as the pros and cons of bullfighting, and environmental issues. However, we start at a very local level, and learn about national parks through the medium of the international language that you are studying. This tends to lead to trips (locally and abroad), where possible, for those opting to study the language at Key Stage 4.

Key Stage 4 English

At Key Stage 4 learners follow a course leading to the award of two GCSE qualifications;
one for GCSE English Language and one for GCSE English Literature. The two subjects are
studied side by side and taught by the same teacher over Years 10 and 11.

English Language focuses on equipping learners with the skills they need to respond to a
range of continuous and non-continuous texts they will come across in their daily lives.
Learners will also be supported in developing their spoken and written communication so
that they are able to speak and write confidently, accurately and imaginatively for a range of contexts, audiences and purposes.

• For this qualification learners will sit two written papers (Unit 2 and Unit 3) which are
• each worth 40% of the overall English Language grade.
• The papers are untiered; all learners will sit the same papers.
• There are also two oracy non-examination assessments which will be completed in the classroom. They are both worth 10% of the final qualification.

For the English Literature qualification, learners will be supported to engage with a range of exciting texts which span across different times and places. Literature lessons focus on equipping learners with the tools they need to make individual interpretations of the texts as well as on developing an appreciation of how societal, political and cultural issues influence the creation of literary works.

• For this qualification learners will sit two written papers: Unit 1 (35% of the final qualification to be sat at the end of Year10) and Unit 2a (40% of the final qualification to be sat at the end of Year 11)
• There are two tiers for the Literature papers:
  • Higher tier (Grades A*-C)
  • Foundation tier (Grades C-G)
• There are also two non-examination tasks which will be completed in the classroom. They are both worth 12.5% of the final qualification.

Year 9 - The Magic of Storytelling
Year 9 is all about experiencing the excitement of storytelling through engagement with prose and drama texts. Learners will experience being the creators of their own stories,
follow the mind-blowing story of a real life adventurer and study a play by the greatest story-teller of all … Shakespeare!

Unit 1 - Play and novel
In this unit learners will read a play and a novel. The focus is on reading for pleasure
and engaging with stories about the world around them. They will also continue to
develop the GCSE reading skills they developed in KS3.

Unit 2 - Creative Writing
Here learners will be able to put their imagination to use by learning how to craft their very own stories. Getting technical is important too. Practising how to write accurately
using a range of punctuation, vocabulary and varied sentence structure for effect will
bring their writing to life and will form the foundation of the important GCSE writing skills.

Unit 3 - Chris McCandless; Adventures in Alaska
In this unit learners will follow the real life story of Chris McCandless aka ‘Alexander
Supertramp’. Through his story of adventure and disaster, learners will develop their
understanding of how writers try to influence their readers and evaluate how effective
this is.

Unit 4 - Romeo and Juliet; non-examination assessment
In this term learners will be reading, watching and responding to the greatest love
story of all time. They will study Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and answer a question based on a theme or character from the play. This will be the first of two literature non-examination assessments and will count towards the final GCSE Literature
grade – it is worth 12.5%.

Year 10

• From Sept-Nov learners will study a range of poems from a Welsh heritage poetry anthology before completing a comparison of two poems.
• From Nov-Dec learners will complete their Individual Presentation. This is a formal, assessed oracy task which comprises researching a topic of their choice and planning and delivering a persuasive speech.
• From Jan-May learners will study the text Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and how to approach unseen poetry in readiness for the GCSE Literature Unit 1 exam that they will sit in May.
• Finally, from May-July learners will put their discussion skills into practice by preparing for and completing the second of the two formally assessed oracy tasks. For this task learners will be given a choice of three prescribed topics which they will have the opportunity to research before discussing in a small group.

Year 11

• From Sept-Nov learners will be developing their reading skills. They will refine their locating information skills, their inference, explaining, summarising, synthesis and comparison skills, otherwise known as The Big 6. They will also practise writing for a range of audiences and purposes. Most of our learners will sit the English Language external exam in November although some learners will have the option to this in the summer at the end of Year 11.
• From Nov-April learners will be reading and studying the novella Heroes by Robert Cormier Followed by the play An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley.

Learners will be given support to develop a range of different revision strategies to
effectively revise the key characters, themes and contexts for each of these texts
before sitting the final Literature exam in May/June.

In addition, within the faculty we offer the following AQA exam board qualifications to
selected pupils:

• Entry Level Certificate – Step up to English Gold award
• Entry Level Certificate – Step up to English Silver award

Key Stage 4 Welsh

The qualification is made up of four units: Unit 1 and Unit 2 are external speaking and listening examinations, Unit 3 and Unit 4 are reading and writing examinations. The context for learning the language is organised under three broad themes:

• Theme 1 - Cyflogaeth (Employment)
• Theme 2 - Ieuenctid (Youth)
• Theme 3 - Cymru a'r Byd (Wales and the World)

When studying this qualification learners will be required to cover the following areas:

Listening: understand and respond to different types of spoken language

• Demonstrate an understanding of spoken language by one or more speakers in public and social situations, for example, conversations, presentations, news reports and television programmes.
• Understand the main message, main points, specific details and different perspectives communicated verbally in long and short pieces. Speaking: communicate and interact effectively in speech.
• Communicate and interact spontaneously and effectively for different purposes, including conveying information, expressing and justifying opinion, and asking and answering questions.
• Use a range of strategies to support and sustain effective communication, including asking questions to clarify meaning and eliciting information.
• Hold conversations and discussions making extended contributions and combining a variety of sentences and language patterns.
• Use language patterns listed in the Language Requirements.
• Use different verb tenses.
• Modify language appropriately for different audiences and a range of situations, using appropriate register, clear pronunciation and appropriate intonation.

Reading: understand and respond to different types of written language

• Understand and respond to written language in different forms written for a variety of purposes and audiences, including correspondence, articles, online information, marketing materials, literary texts, diagrammatic information, public information and instructions
• Understand the main message, main points, specific details and different perspectives in a variety of long and short, simple and complex written texts, using different verb tenses.
• Discern meaning within a variety of long and short written texts, including some relating to abstract topics, unfamiliar material and some more complex language, interpreting implied meaning where appropriate.
• Scan for specific information within extended and multi-format written material.

Writing: communicate in writing

• Write effectively for different purposes.
• Write accurately using simple and familiar sentences, language patterns and vocabulary to convey meaning and information effectively.
• Write in an extended and coherent manner in order to convey facts, ideas and perspectives for different audiences and purposes, including descriptive and narrative writing, persuasive and instructional, creative and imaginative, critical / expressing opinions.
• Use a range of different written forms, for example letters, e-mails, articles, diaries, posters, stories and blogs.
• Use language patterns listed in the Language Requirements.
• Use different verb tenses.
• Make creative use of language, varying and adapting vocabulary and language patterns, style and register intentionally for different purposes.
• Modify language appropriately, including language and register, for different audiences and a range of situations.
• Translate short and simple texts from English to Welsh in order to convey the main message and meaning, using language accurately.

Key Stage 4 French or Spanish

This leads to a GCSE qualification, based around the following topics:

• Identity and Culture
• Wales and the World
• Current and Future Study and Employment

The Specifications in both French and Spanish are designed to enable our learners to:

• develop their ability to communicate confidently and coherently with native speakers in speech and writing, conveying what they want to say with increasing accuracy
• express and develop thoughts and ideas spontaneously and fluently
• listen to and understand clearly articulated, standard speech at near normal speed
• deepen their knowledge about how language works and enrich their vocabulary in order for them to increase their independent use and understanding of extended language in a wide range of contexts
• acquire new knowledge, skills and ways of thinking through the ability to understand and respond to a rich range of authentic spoken and written material, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, including literary texts
• develop awareness and understanding of the culture and identity of the countries and communities where the language is spoken
• be encouraged to make appropriate links to other areas of the curriculum to enable bilingual and deeper learning, where the language may become a medium for constructing and applying knowledge
• develop language learning skills both for immediate use and to prepare them for further language study and use in school, higher education or in employment
• develop language strategies.

The 4 skills that are examined are Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing (at the end of Year 11).

We are also looking into developing the new and exciting Global Business Communication course, which is geared more towards the use of language (French or Spanish) in a business context, is more vocational and less traditional.

Key Stage 5 English

English Language and Literature AS and A Level follow an integrated approach, taking the
skills from the GCSE Language and Literature study and building on these foundations.
Students who choose to take this subject will be working towards one qualification in English Language and Literature.

Studying A level English offers numerous advantages. It enhances critical thinking and
analytical skills, fostering a deeper understanding of literary texts and their cultural contexts.

A level English develops effective communication, both written and oral, encouraging
articulate expression. It also cultivates creativity, empathy, and a lifelong appreciation for
literature, empowering students with valuable skills for higher education and beyond.

Year 12
Students will study two units both worth 20% towards the final A Level qualification.

Unit 1 – Comparative Analysis and Creative Writing – One 2 hour exam
In this unit, students will study an anthology of pre-1914 poems. They will also learn how to develop analytical approaches to non-literary texts such as spoken transcriptions,
advertisements, autobiographies, biographies, travel writing, journalism, information texts,
instructional texts, letters, reports, speeches, specialist publications.
Also in this unit, students will develop their own original writing skills by writing in a range of genres.

Unit 2 – Drama and Non-Literary text study – One 2 hour exam
Students will be more familiar with the approaches for this unit as it has close links with the GCSE Literature units but with the added benefits of also looking at the texts through a
linguistic lens. Students will engage in a detailed study of two texts:

• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – A true crime novel, based on the story of the brutal murder of an entire family in rural Kansas which opens a window on the dark underbelly of postwar America.
• Shakespeare in Love by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard – A romantic comedy, written for screen and stage which follows the romantic life of a young William Shakespeare as he tries to overcome writer’s block.

Year 13
Unit 3 – Shakespeare One 2 hour exam
Students will use integrated literary and linguistic approaches to study King Lear by William Shakespeare. While students will engage critically with the text as a work of literature, this unit also offers opportunities for exploring the richness of the English language and its historical development set within the context of when the text was produced and received.
Students will develop their knowledge of dramatic techniques, their skills as interpreters of performance texts and their understanding of significant contextual factors throughout their studies for this unit.

Unit 4 – Comparative analysis of unseen texts and prose study, One 2 hour exam
There are two sections for this unit. For section A, students will refine the analytical methods and approaches needed to compare a range of literary and non-literary texts.
For section B, students will study Margret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

Unit 5 – Critical and Creative Genre Study, Non-exam assessment: 2500-3500 word
folder. This unit comprises of a detailed study of the gothic genre. Through close analysis of a wide range of extracts taken from gothic texts, and through the study of the classic gothic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, students will gain a deep insight into the gothic literary conventions and contextual influences. This unit gives students the freedom to choose an aspect of the genre they are interested in or even other wider reading texts on which to base their study.
In reflecting on their studies, students will then be required to produce original writing related to their chosen genre.

Key Stage 5 French or Spanish

AS/A2 French or Spanish deals with topics based around the country/countries of the language that you are studying, and introduces more culture, such as films, plays and novels! Yes, you will get to the stage where you can understand these in the language that you are studying!

AS Level

Theme 1 - Being a young person in French or Spanish-speaking society

Theme 2 - Understanding the French/Spanish-speaking world

A2 Level

Theme 3 - Diversity and Difference

Theme 4 (French) - France 1940-1950: The Occupation and the post-war years

Theme 4 (Spanish) - The Two Spains: 1936 onwards

While studying these areas of interest and related themes, learners will develop knowledge and understanding of the countries or communities where the language studied is spoken through speaking, listening, reading and writing.

The AS exams in both languages are:

• Unit 1 Speaking (12%)
• Unit 2 Listening, Reading, Translation (into English) and Critical Response in Writing (film) (28%)

The A2 exam in both languages are:

• Unit 3 Speaking (Independent Research Project - an area of your choice, related to a country where the language is spoken) (18%)
• Unit 4 Listening, Reading and Translation (into the language of study) (30%)
• Unit 5 Critical and Analytical Response in Writing (play/novel) (12%)