The world we live in needs people who are effective and authentic communicators. In order to be effective communicators in the world around them, Pupils need exposure to a breadth of high-quality texts – both fiction and non-fiction. At Pune we expose Pupils to a range of challenging texts in order to inspire an early love of language and literature which will equip them with the skills they need for future study in the subject, and for life.
As a basis, in KS3, Pupils will study a range of texts in each year, and these will be enjoyed and studied through the embedding of vital language analysis skills. Pupils master writing techniques and writing for a variety of purposes such as descriptive writing, narrative writing, writing to persuade and writing to inform. They will read and analyse poetry, novels, plays, articles and other non fiction texts from a period spanning over two hundred years.
By Year 9, Pupils are expected to be critical thinkers, familiar with literary techniques and able to interpret authorial intentions and nuances of language adopted for different writing styles. This ensures a solid foundation for their GCSE studies in the two English disciplines.
GCSE English Literature:
The Literature course is designed to give pupils an over-arching appreciation of Literature from the modern period. As such, Pupils will study one ‘legacy’ text, usually a Shakespeare play such as Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet; one 19th Century novel, such as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or Bronte’s Jane Eyre; and one modern text, such as Priestley’s An Inspector Calls or Haddon and Stephens’ The Curious of the Dog in the Night Time, from a selection offered by the examination boards. As well as this, Pupils will study one group of poems by different writers grouped thematically as decided by the exam board, and will also learn how to analyse unfamiliar poems for themselves.
GCSE English Language:
English is invaluable for your future, no matter what you are aiming for and it is compulsory to study it at GCSE. A good command of spoken and written Standard English will help you every day – and benefit all of your other GCSEs too. Whatever you end up doing, English is a must-have subject for college, university, work and life!
Your GCSE Language course will involve being familiar with a range of text types, from articles to emails and interviews to speeches, and you will be taught the skills you need to analyse these types of text as well as create your own. You will be asked to analyse both fiction and non-fiction and in so doing, gain an appreciation for the crafting of language that writers employ to achieve their aims. You will become an expert in talking about why writers do what they do, and in crafting the English Language to your own purposes.
