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Year 9 Curriculum - English
SPECIFICATIONS: English Language, English Literature AQA (8700/8702)
During Key Stage 4 all students are required to study GCSEs in both English Language and English Literature.
The Year 9 programme in English aims to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word. The curriculum will prepare them for the greater challenges of their GCSE courses in both English Language and English Literature.
Assessment for the final GCSE in both English Language and English Literature consists of a total of four terminal examinations. Speaking and Listening (spoken language) no longer contributes to the final GCSE grade, however, a grade for this skill appears separately on the GCSE certificate. Assessment for spoken language is completed towards the end of Year 9.
Content
Reading:
- Non-fiction texts (e.g.articles, leaflets, web-based texts, autobiography, travel writing, magazine and newspaper articles).
- Shakespeare (Macbeth).
- Text(s) from the English Literary Heritage.
- Modern Drama.
- Literature from other cultures.
- Poetry.
Writing:
- Writing for a range of audiences and purposes. Fiction and non-fiction.
Speaking & Listening:
- Speaking and Listening in a range of contexts.
- Spoken Language assessment (GCSE) consisting of a speech and questions.
Skills that are developed
Students are taught to:
- Demonstrate skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing necessary to communicate with others confidently, effectively, precisely, and appropriately.
- Express themselves creatively and imaginatively.
- Select and adapt speech and writing to different situations and audiences.
- Become critical, flexible, and discerning readers
- Use reading to gain access to knowledge and to develop their own skills as writers.
- Understand that texts from the English, Welsh and Irish Literary Heritage have been influential and significant over time and explore the meaning of these today.
- Understand how literature from other cultures is influential.
- Connect ideas, themes, and issues in a range of texts.
Assessment
Assessment during Year 9 takes the form of regular teacher assessed assignments and an exam (these assessments do not contribute towards the final GCSE qualification). The Spoken Language assessment, for which students write and deliver their own speech is formally assessed and will be graded as part of the GCSE English Language requirement, late in the Spring Term of Year 9.
English Language GCSE
The scheme of assessment is linear and concludes with two written examinations.
Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing (Fiction)
1 hour 45 minutes 80 marks 50% of the GCSE
Section A: Unseen Literature from the 20th or 21st century. Candidates will answer four questions.
Section B: Creative writing (e.g. a description or narrative).
Paper 2: Writer’s Viewpoints and Perspectives (Non-Fiction)
1 hour 45 minutes 80 marks 50% of the GCSE
Section A: Unseen Literature from the 20th or 21st century. Candidates will answer four questions.
Section B: Creative writing (e.g. A broadsheet article, a letter or a speech).
AND
English Literature GCSE
The scheme of assessment is linear and concludes with two written examinations.
Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th Century Novel
1 hour 45 minutes
Candidates will study the two texts within the course and answer a question on each in the examination. The exam is closed book and therefore students will not have access to the text during the examination.
Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry
2 hours 15 minutes
Candidates will study either a play text and15 poems from a pre-released anthology. This examination is also closed book and therefore students will not have access to the text during the examination.
Web address for specification: www.aqa.org.uk
Enquiries to: Mrs M Chambers – Learning Leader: English
