Department Leader: Vikki Peverell
The KBA English Department are committed to providing students with a range of learning experiences and enrichment activities, as well as offering a wide range of specialisms from life-enhancing literacy skills to Advanced Level courses which allow students to access the very best universities.
Our aim is to provide an excellent education for all, rooted in a desire to bring out the best in all students and prepare them for success in life. The English curriculum is designed to provide all our students with the core knowledge that is the foundation of this success. We aim to maximise each student’s cognitive development, to develop the whole person and to celebrate talents of the individual.
It is our intention that young people leave us with a passion for, and understanding of, English Language and Literature. We are proud of our ambitious, challenging and diverse curriculum that inspires young minds to be creative, critical readers and writers. Through the rigorous and carefully sequenced curriculum, we equip our young people with the confidence to communicate effectively in life beyond school.
At Kettering Buccleuch Academy our intent is to develop core reading, writing and oracy in our students, using these to develop understanding of students’ place in the world and the issues that affect them.
Through a rigorous focus on the writer’s purpose, students are encouraged to develop understanding of how meaning is shaped through writing, and then to develop this themselves in their own work. Students learn to express themselves clearly and comprehensively in a variety of contexts. We encourage exploration of personal responses to themes within texts, challenging their established ideas and perspectives and developing a deeper understanding of these.
Our knowledge rich curriculum ensures that students study challenging texts from Year 7, irrespective of ability. Students are supported in their studies so that all make excellent progress and are exposed to a range of themes through their texts, allowing development of ideas, perspectives and understanding.
It is our intent to ensure that all students leave the academy with the practical skills that are transferable to all workplaces or further study; such as communication, critical thinking and writing for purpose.
At Kettering Buccleuch Academy, we are proud to deliver a broad and challenging curriculum. Students will study prose, poetry, plays, non-fiction and Shakespeare to develop and master key skills such as inference, language analysis and creative writing in both language and literature. To support each learning we have themes that run through our Key Stage 3 curriculum including: power and conflict, inequality and social justice, gender, exploring the past, imagined worlds, personal perspectives and childhood.
All students are set targets and the intention is to equip students with clear foundations in both reading and writing skills, whilst exploring a range of literature from a variety of cultural backgrounds, genres and periods. Each unit encourages students to explore how difficult components such as: reading, writing and spelling, punctuation and grammar work together but also to develop appreciation of both language and literature.
Progress is monitored in the form of teacher assessment, mid-year and end of year examinations.
At Kettering Buccleuch Academy, the English department follows the AQA syllabus at Key Stage 4 and offers students the opportunity to gain two qualifications by the end of the course - English Language and English Literature. We believe that our KS4 course is engaging, inspiring and challenging for students of all abilities.
The English Language qualification consists of two papers, both equal in weighting. Each paper consists of a reading section (based on unseen extracts) and a writing section. Students can achieve grades 1-9 in English Language.
The English Literature qualification also consists of two papers. At KBA, our students study Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry and unseen poetry. However, we do encourage our students to read a range of texts in their free time to allow their passion for literature to flourish. Students are not allowed to take their texts into the examinations so they must study these texts both in and out of lessons. Students can achieve grades 1-9 in English Literature.
Resources
Year 7 WOWC Mid-Year Revision Booklet
Year 8 The Tempest Mid-Year Revision Booklet
Year 9 The Crucible Mid-Year Revision Booklet
Year 10 Language Paper 1 Revision Booklet 2021
Year 10 Mid-Year Exam Revision
GCSE Literature Homework to be checked each week
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zmxh34j
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/crucible/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zmbj382
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/english-ks2-treasure-island-home/zk2qnrd
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwt3rdm/revision/1
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/summary.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/christmascarol/summary.html
https://www.sparknotes.com/drama/an-inspector-calls/
https://www.memrise.com/course/1395236/aqa-power-and-conflict-poetry/
https://www.senecalearning.com/
Revision Websites | GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature
https://www.bl.uk/
This is your go-to site in terms of really good, challenging content for English Literature. As a starting point, Google ‘British Library + Macbeth’ or ‘British Library + An Inspector Calls’ – you get the idea.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/zxqncwx
There’s lots here to consolidate your knowledge. There are separate areas for both English Literature and English Language. All aspects of the qualifications are covered.
https://www.sparknotes.com/
A similar(ish) website to BBC Bitesize. You’ll find notes on most of the English Literature texts, plus quizzes to test your knowledge.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/
There’s plenty here to help you revise the core English Literature texts – chapter summaries, character overviews, quizzes and essay questions.
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/
This website is one of my favourites. It’s got comprehensive notes on most of the English Literature texts, and there’s also relevant information that you can use to help revise for English Language.
https://thestableoyster.wordpress.com/
This website contains some excellent blogs on the poems from the AQA Power and Conflict cluster. Click on the website link and then type the name of the poem you want to revise into the search bar.
http://learningfrommymistakesenglish.blogspot.com/2018/04/power-and-conflict-website-links.html
Another blogging website. This one contains links to more resources on the poems from the AQA Power and Conflict cluster.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk
It’s worth typing the name of the text (or area) you want to study into the search bar – it’s likely that you’ll find some decent stuff. For example, there are a number of really good articles on Jekyll and Hyde and Macbeth.
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse
You can find past papers, mark schemes and exam reports. Look for the ‘assessment resources’ area and go from there.
United Learning comprises: United Learning Ltd (Registered in England No: 00018582. Charity No. 313999) UCST (Registered in England No: 2780748. Charity No. 1016538) and ULT (Registered in England No. 4439859. An Exempt Charity). Companies limited by guarantee. Registered address: United Learning, Worldwide House, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, PE3 6SB.
Financial Accountability and Freedom of Information