English

Reading

Students are taught to develop an appreciation and love of reading, and read increasingly challenging material independently through the study of a range of texts. They are also taught to understand texts through:

• Learning new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries
• Making inferences and referring to evidence in the text
• Knowing the purpose, audience for and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension
• Checking their understanding to make sure that what they have read makes sense

Students learn to read critically through:

• Knowing how language, including: figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, creates meanings
• Recognising a range of poetic conventions and understanding how these have been used
• Studying setting, context, plot, and characterisation, and their effects on the reader
• Understanding how dramatists’ work is communicated effectively through performance, and how alternative staging allows for different interpretations of a play
• Making critical and evaluative comparisons across a range of fiction and non-fiction texts

Writing

Students are taught to write accurately, fluently, effectively and at length for pleasure and information through:

• Writing for a wide range of purposes and audiences, including: well-structured formal expository and narrative essays; stories, scripts, poetry and other imaginative writing; notes and academic scripts for talks and presentations and a range of other narrative and non-narrative texts, including arguments, articles, guides, blogs, personal and formal letters
• Summarising and organising material, and supporting ideas and arguments with factual detail
• Applying their growing knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and text structure to their writing and selecting the appropriate form to convey specific meanings to the reader
• Drawing on knowledge of literary and rhetorical devices from their textual investigations to enhance the impact of their writing
• Studying the effectiveness and impact of the grammatical features of the texts they read
• Drawing on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from their reading and listening, and using these consciously in their writing and speech to achieve particular effects

Students learn to plan, draft, edit and proofread through:

• Considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended
• Amending the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness
• Paying attention to accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling

Speaking and listening

Students are taught speaking and listening skills including:

• Active listening skills
• Understanding and responding
• Group discussions – using, developing and adapting speaking skills and participating in group discussions for varied purposes.

Years 10 and 11

Students will follow the AQA specification for English Language and English Literature.

The English Language course comprises the following:
Paper 1 – unseen 19th century fiction and imaginative writing
Paper 2 – unseen 20th and 21st century non-fiction and transactional writing

The English Literature course comprises the following:
Paper 1 – Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet) and post 1914 literature (An Inspector Calls)
Paper 2 – 19th century novel (A Christmas Carol) and anthology plus unseen poetry

The examinations are all taken at the end of Year 11 although students will also complete a persuasive speech recording at some point during the course.

If you have any further enquiries regarding GCSE English, please contact Mrs Scriven at: E.Scriven@settlecollege.n-yorks.sch.uk

English Literature

“The A Level English Literature course is a truly interesting and challenging course which has allowed me to appreciate classic literature.”

“English Literature introduced me to lots of amazing texts which I wouldn’t have read otherwise and I have really enjoyed studying them.”

Awarding Body: AQA (Specification B)

Useful Websites: 

http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/exams-guidance/find-past-papers-and-mark-schemes 

http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/

Subject Staff: Mrs V Lewis, Mrs Scriven

Course Requirements
5 GCSEs which must include GCSE English Language Grade 6, English Literature Grade 6.  Students are also expected to have an enthusiasm for reading.

Course Description and assessment for A level English Literature:
Core content:

• Literary genres: aspects of tragedy or aspects of comedy. Students study three texts: one Shakespeare play, a second drama text and one further text. In addition to the compulsory Shakespeare play, one of the other two texts must be written pre-1900.
• Texts and genres: Elements of crime writing or elements of political and social protest writing. Students study three texts: one post-2000 prose text, one poetry and one further text, one of which must be written pre 1900. They also respond to an unseen passage in the exam.
• Theory and independence: non-examined component – In this component, students write about two different literary texts. One of the texts must be a poetry text and the other must be prose. Each text must be linked to a different section of the Critical anthology. (Students cannot choose texts from any of the A Level exam set text lists.) The Critical anthology has extracts from different literary theories which the students use to support their exploration of different meanings in literary texts. Students produce two essays of 1,250 – 1,500 words. There is opportunity for one response to be a re-creative one.

Assessment
For A-Level, there will be two exams: paper 1 – two hours 30 minutes and paper 2 – three hours. There will also be a non-examined assessment of two essays.

Paper 1: literary genres: aspects of tragedy or aspects of comedy.
This is a closed book exam and is worth 40% of the A-Level.Students will answer one passage based question on a set Shakespeare text (25 marks); one essay question on a set Shakespeare text (25 marks) and one essay question linking two texts together (25 marks).

Paper 2: Texts and genres: elements of crime writing or elements of political and social protest writing.
This is an open book exam. Students are allowed clean copies of their set texts. It is worth 40% of the A-Level.Students will answer one compulsory question on an unseen passage (25 marks); One essay question on a set text (25 marks) and one essay question which connects two texts (25 marks).

Non-exam assessment: Theory and independence.
Students produce two essays of 1,250 – 1,500 words on different texts. One must be a poetry text and one must be prose. Students use the Critical anthology to support their explorations of the texts. Each essay is worth 25 marks. This component is worth 20% of the A-Level.

In A-Level, students will need to know a lot about the texts they study, but they will also need to know about the contexts in which they were produced and explore different interpretations. They will need to develop an understanding of literary analysis and how to apply this so that they can discuss their own interpretations and judgements using the correct literary terminology. Students must be prepared to read outside of the set texts.

There is a lot of class and small group discussion to which everyone is expected to contribute. Much on-going work is reading, although written work is set at regular intervals to refine and develop the skills of organisation and expression which students have already worked on in earlier years. If you enjoy reading and talking about what you read, you will find this course enjoyable and rewarding.

Progression
Even if you do not think that you want to go on to study Literature at University, you should still find that the oral, writing and analytical skills that you develop in the course will be of use to you in virtually any field of study or employment.  The skills acquired will enable students to formulate informed discussions, enter debate and lead ideas using their own interpretations and judgements.  Students who have studied English Literature have gone on to study a range of subjects from Literature, Geography, Law, Art, History to Astrophysics and Building Surveying.

English Language

“English at Settle College has helped develop my analytical skills, and I have had the opportunity to study many forms of communication.”

“English at Settle College is fun and challenging. It has really helped me improve my analytical skills.”

“I didn’t know you could have so much fun in an A-Level lesson.”

Awarding Body: AQA

Useful Websites
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/
http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/exams-guidance/find-past-papers-and-mark-schemes

Subject Staff : Mrs A Ellwood

Course Requirements
5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above including grade 6 in GCSE English Language and Grade 6 in English Literature

Students taking this A-Level should have a lively interest in all forms of human language use in society.  Students should be prepared to read and analyse many kinds of texts and to produce their own original writing for specific purposes and audiences.

Course Description and assessment for the new A-Level in English Language:
Core content:

Language, the Individual and Society
The aim of this part of the subject content is to introduce students to language study, exploring textual variety and children’s language development.  This area of study introduces students to methods of language analysis to explore concepts of audience, purpose, genre, mode and representation.  It also introduces students to the study of children’s language development, exploring how children learn language and how they are able to understand and express themselves through language.

Language Diversity and Change
The aim of this area of study is to allow students to explore language diversity and change over time.  Students will study the key concepts of audience, purpose, genre and mode and will explore language in its wider social, geographical and temporal contexts.  They will explore processes of language change.  This part of the subject content also requires students to study social attitudes to, and debates about, language diversity and change.

Language in Action
The aim of this area of study is to allow students to explore and analyse language data independently and develop and reflect upon their own writing expertise.  It requires students to carry out two different kinds of individual research:

• a language investigation (2,000 words excluding data);
• a piece of original writing and commentary (750 words each).

Students can choose to pursue a study of spoken, written or multimodal data, or a mixture of text types, demonstrating knowledge in areas of individual interest.

Assessment
For A-level, there will be two exams at the end of year 13 that are both 2 hours 30 minutes.  There will also be a non-examined assessment of a piece of original writing with commentary and one language investigation.

Paper 1: Language, the individual and society: The exam is worth 40% of the A-Level.  Students will answer three questions on two texts (one contemporary and one older).  One question will be a comparison of the texts.  Students will also answer an essay question on children’s language development.

Paper 2: Diversity and change: this paper is worth 40% of the A-Level.  Students will answer one question on either language diversity or language change.  They will answer on two texts – one answer will be an essay and one a directed writing task.

Non-exam assessment: 20% of A-Level.  One language investigation (word count 2,000 words).  One piece of original writing with commentary (word count 1,500 words).

English Language at this level is not like English at GCSE.  Students must be prepared to absorb and use confidently a range of technical terms relating to concepts in language analysis as well as being willing to learn about the grammar of the language.  This is rewarding for anyone who has keen interest in how language works in many different fields in our society.  It requires a wide range of attentive reading.  There are a lot of class and small group discussions as well as individual and paired research.

Progression
This course could lead to the further study of language at University level, but the analytical insights and practical writing skills developed would contribute equally well to the study of many other disciplines in the Arts and Sciences, such as Child Development, PR roles and jobs in advertising.  It would also be very useful in developing communication skills for those intending to seek employment in a wide range of fields where dealing with people is important.