Our Programmes of Study at both KS3 and KS4 fully meet the requirements of the revised National Curriculum.
Beyond this minimum expectation, our aim is to provide for all students a curriculum experience which is enriching, inspiring and empowering. To that end. schedules have been carefully and imaginatively planned to ensure a coherent learning progression from Year 7 to Yr.11; schemes of work invite the best practice in pedagogy, utilising texts and resources which are diligently chosen and prepared.
Our curriculum is broad and balanced with ample opportunity to use and develop skills in Speaking & Listening (EN1), Reading (EN2) and Writing (EN3). There is a great amount of variety: of goal, of task, of outcome, of mood, of resource, of learning style, of texts… but all activities are designed to stretch and challenge and to advance learning. The curriculum explores language both in the world of the imagination and in real-life, and thus develops students who are imaginative, rounded, curious and independent, yet who can function productively and accurately in the world of work and society.
Our KS3 Programme of Study is terminally assessed in our SAT-equivalent internal exams at the end of Year 9. Prior to this, each KS3 module will contain at least one (more commonly two) assessed pieces. These will be written/typed on A4 and formally assessed against NC criteria. These assessments will form the basis of progress statements, target-setting, intervention etc. Marked pieces are stored in a cardboard binder as an assessment portfolio. Such assessments enable us to form an overview of each student’s performance profile and to then apply remedy and intervention, where necessary. A comprehensive database is maintained within the department of all students’ assessment scores across the whole 5 years. Reporting to parents will follow the schedules and procedures laid down by the school as a whole.
At KS4, we currently enter students for assessment in both English & English Literature. From September 2008, Sets 1 & 2 will follow the AQA Specification A (Higher Tier), while Sets 3 & 4 will follow the WJEC Specification B. Ordinarily, Set 3 students will be entered at Higher Tier (grades A*-E), while Set 4 students will be entered at Foundation Tier (grades C-G). Decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis regarding any exception to this rule-of-thumb, as are decisions to enter students solely for English, rather than the combined award.
English AQA GCSE Programme (Sets 1 and 2)
English WJEC GCSE Programme (Sets 3 and 4)
There is currently no alternative provision for the least able students at KS4. It is considered that, with major changes at KS4 in the pipeline from 2010, decisions on alternative provision would best be left until those alternatives are clearly established and embedded in the assessment framework.
Exam Results
In the May/June, 2008 sessions, our results were as follows:
| KS3 SATs | 78% | Level 5+ |
| GCSE English | 68% | Grades A*-C |
| GCSE English Literature | 62% | Grades A*-C |