Welcome to Astrea Academy Sheffield Inspiring Beyond Measure
English
Staff
Charlie Brennan – Head of English
Francesca Sergeant – Teacher of English
Rebecca Dudley – Teacher of English
Curriculum
We believe that your children have a right to experience the best that has been thought and said. The academic discipline of English enables pupils to better understand the world around them and to participate in that world with confidence. We study high quality literature alongside rigorous teaching of grammar and work across the school to instill a love of reading, writing and oracy for all Astrea scholars.
COVID-19
In English, we know that all of the subject content that we teach during Key Stage 3 is vitally important for our pupils’ development and ability to access GCSE content. Due to the reduced amount of time pupils have had in schools during the 2019/20 academic year, the following changes have been made to the curriculum for the 2020/21 academic year in English.
- Pupils entering Y8 will cover a condensed version of the Y7 topics below in addition to their Y8 content.
- Pupils entering Y9 will cover a condensed version of the Y8 topics below in addition to their Y9 content.
Key Stage 3
We cover all of the bigger ideas and principles at key stage 3 to give pupils the best foundation possible to succeed in their GCSEs.
Y7
The Odyssey – Homer (trans. Emily Wilson)
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Animal Poetry – Blake et al
1x weekly grammar lesson
Y8
Y9
Key Stage 4
Exam Board – AQA
Awards – GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Language
English Literature
English Literature Paper 1
English Literature Paper 2
- 19th Century Novel
- Shakespeare
- Modern drama text
- The poetry anthology
- Unseen poetry
Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
64 marks
40% of GCSE
Written exam: 2 hours 15 minutes
96 marks
60% of GCSE
English Language
English Language Paper 1
English Language Paper 2
Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing
- Section A – Reading
- Section B – Writing
Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives
- Section A – Reading
- Section B – Writing
Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
80 marks
50% of GCSE
Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
80 marks
50% of GCSE
Home Learning
Pupils have 2 parts to their home learning every topic.
- Reading for 20-minutes a day.
- Revising and self-testing from their knowledge organiser.
How can you help?
- Make sure your child is reading every night. Reading for pleasure is fundamental to academic success.
- Help your child with their home learning in English. You can quiz them on the facts that they need to learn.
- Encourage hand writing: diary writing, letters, sports reviews and stories.
- Encourage your child to take part in the co-curricular clubs, trips and competitions which we run throughout the year.