GCSE English Language Studying English at this level is challenging. Our aim is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve their full potential in GCSE examinations, and beyond. The vast majority of students will study both language and literature. In their language studies, students will learn how to interpret a range of non-fiction and media texts. They will also develop techniques that will enable them to become far more conscious of the process of writing, thus allowing them to produce pieces that match the correct style and form to suit any particular task s required audience and purpose. In literature, time is given to both contemporary and established works. Students will analyse texts across a range of genres: from Elizabethan tragedies to Victorian poetry and modern novels. Furthermore, the students are also given a chance to air their views and develop their empathy skills through a range of speaking and listening exercises. Role play, discussions and individual presentations form part of the programme of study. Students will undoubtedly seize the opportunity to lead their own learning within the classroom and they are sure to enjoy a variety of teaching styles. The skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening are of vital importance in many areas. Not only are they essential in many careers, they also underpin successful study at all levels, and a proficiency in them can also add immeasurably to an individual s general quality of life. English at Neston is designed to aid and assess such development, and to encourage learners to be inspired, moved and changed by following a broad and worthwhile course of study. It will prepare learners to make informed decisions and to use language to participate effectively in society and employment. GCSE Subject Criteria for English Language: Learners become critical readers of a range of texts Learners should be able to write accurately and fluently, choosing content and adapting style and language to a wide range of forms, media, contexts, audiences and purposes. In speaking and listening learners present and listen to information and ideas; respond appropriately to the questions and views of others; make a range of effective contributions.
Set Texts & Breadth of Study in English Language & Literature Teachers are encouraged to select texts from a wide variety of authors. A sample of which is provided here: The English Literary Heritage Jane Austen, William Blake, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Robert Browning, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charles Dickens, John Donne, Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, Robert Herrick, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Henry James, John Keats, Christopher Marlowe, Andrew Marvell, John Milton, Alexander Pope, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jonathan Swift, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Anthony Trollope, HG Wells, Oscar Wilde, William Wordsworth and Sir Thomas Wyatt The English Literary Heritage (20th Century) WH Auden, TS Eliot, William Golding, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, DH Lawrence, George Orwell, Wilfred Owen, Harold Pinter, Sylvia Plath, JB Priestley, Siegfried Sassoon, Stevie Smith, Muriel Spark, Dylan Thomas, Edward Thomas, RS Thomas, Arnold Wesker, John Wyndham and WB Yeats. Students also study a wide range of poetry as part of the English Literature course, studying poets as modern and contemporary as Carol Ann Duffy, our current Poet Laureate, to the sonnets of Shakespeare.
GCSE English Language and Literature: AQA Specification GCSE English Language Unit 1: Understanding and Producing Non-Fiction Texts External examination: 40% of the total GCSE 2 hours 15 minutes reading time; 80 marks Section A: Reading 20% of the total GCSE marks; 1 hour, 40 marks. Section B: Writing 20% of the total GCSE marks; 1 hour, 40 marks. Unit 2: Speaking and Listening Controlled assessment: presenting discussing and listening role playing. Unit 3: Understanding Spoken and Written Texts and Writing Creatively Controlled assessment: 40% of the total GCSE; 80 marks Part A: Extended Reading 15% of the GCSE marks; 3-4 hours; 30 marks. Part B: Creative Writing 15% of the GCSE marks; 3-4 hours; 30 marks. Part C: Spoken Language Study 10% of the GCSE marks; 2-3 hours; 20 marks.
GCSE English Literature Unit 1: Exploring Modern Texts External examination: 40% of the total GCSE 1 hour 30 minutes; 60 marks Section A: Modern Prose or Drama 20% of total GCSE; 45 minutes; 30 marks. Section B: Exploring Cultures 20% of total GSCE; 45 minutes; 30 marks. Unit 2: Poetry Across Time External examination: 35% of the total GCSE; 1 hour 15 minutes; 54 marks Section A: Poetry cluster from the anthology 23% of total GCSE; 45 minutes; 36 marks. Section B: Responding to an unseen poem 12% of total GCSE; 30 minutes; 18 marks. Unit 3: The Significance of Shakespeare and the English Literary Heritage Controlled assessment: 25% of the total GCSE; 3-4 hours; 40 marks.
Monitoring Expectations and predictions of students performance at GCSE in English are informed by their progress from Key Stage 2 and how this is then built on at Key Stage 3. Students are expected to make two levels of progress based on their Key Stage Two level, moving up around one sub level each half-term. However, this can vary from student to student; for example, some students may remain on the same level in the first term as they settle into secondary school. This expected progress is then tracked through to GCSE. Here is an example of the stages of expected progress, as laid out by the Department of Education. It must be stressed, however, that students can out-perform their previous scores. Key Stage Two scores are used as a bench mark to inform planning and to encourage students to do the very best they can these are not used to limit student aspirations in any way. To ensure students are aware of their current level of progress, we have created a monitoring and progress label which is placed within exercise books. The label contains the Key Stage Two level attained by the student in Year 6, along with the level they are expected to have reached by the end of the school year and at the end of Year 11. There are six boxes which your child s teacher will complete with a working level at the end of each half-term. This level is exactly the same as the school s official Working Levels sent to parents for each subject.
This contains the student s Key Stage Two level. This tells us where they are starting from and how much progress they should make. These are the working levels that are reported every half-term. This gives us an at a glance overview of the level of progress the student is making. This is the level the student is expected to attain by the end of the school year. This is the expected level for the student at the end of Key Stage Four.
Key Stage Four Action Points - Reading 1. Make sure that you show you understand the effect of particular word choices. 2. Aim to provide more detailed answers. 3. Use analytical language to show you can explore language, e.g. suggests, implies, gives the impression that 4. Use quotations to support your answers, including quotations marks. 5. Pick out words/phrases from your quotations and comment on the connotations or the impact on the reader. 6. Read questions carefully and answer what you have been asked. 7. Always comment on quotations to explain why you have used them/what effect they have. 8. Extend/expand on the points you make to include more detail. 9. Aim to answer the question(s) you are asked. 10. Try to point out where writers have used features of language, e.g. similes, metaphors, etc. 11. Extend explanations about quotations. 12. Make extended comments about the order/structure of a text. 13. Make links between text and context. 14. Make sure you refer to the writer and what effect they want to have on the reader. Key Stage Four Action Points - Writing 1. Plan your ideas before writing so that you organise them in logical paragraphs. 2. Think carefully about how you end your written pieces so that they conclude effectively. 3. Include a range of accurate punctuation. 4. Aim to be more ambitious with your choices of vocabulary. 5. Make sure you write in full, well controlled sentences. 6. Consistently use paragraphs to structure your ideas. 7. Ensure that you change paragraph in the appropriate place, e.g. change of topic, time, place or speaker. 8. Ensure you use capital letter in the correct place. 9. Aim to use a wide range of punctuation. 10. Use a wide range of vocabulary for effect. 11. Vary the way you begin your sentences. 12. Aim to use a variety of sentence structures. 13. Proofread your work checking spelling, punctuation and grammar. 14. Read aloud to ensure your writing makes sense. 15. Check your writing matches the intended genre, audience and purpose. 16. Aim to write consistently using the correct tone/form. 17. Aim to use the same tense throughout a piece of writing. 18. Extend the ideas in your sentences through using more complicated punctuation, such as colons and semi-colons.
Key Stage Four Action Points Speaking and Listening 1. Frequently use eye contact to engage your audience. 2. Alter tone of voice and volume to enhance your point of view. 3. Stress important vocabulary. 4. Use linking words and phrases, such as therefore, also, furthermore. 5. Listen sensitively when others speak. 6. Build upon the viewpoint of others. 7. Make proactive contributions to group discussions. 8. Alter tone and vocabulary to match audience and purpose. 9. Use Standard English. 10. Try to involve other students in your group. 11. Try to ensure that one student does not dominate the discussion.