Department Information

The English Department at King James I Academy want all students to experience an English Curriculum that is varied, interesting, creative, imaginative, challenging and engaging.  We want the students we teach to be enthused by our own passion for a subject that is the foundation stone of so many other subjects as it encompasses elements of history, religious education, philosophy, ethics, geography, politics, psychology, sociology and the media. 

We want to empower the students we teach to think critically, analytically and empathetically to enable them to evolve into confident, creative, and effective communicators who can research, theorise and interpret independently allowing them to make informed choices, express mature opinions and ultimately encouraging them to be successful learners and responsible citizens.

As we, as a team, celebrate English and impart our passion for the rich and diverse variety and complexity of Language and Literature, we aim to inspire students to read widely and for pleasure, whilst immersing themselves in viewpoints and perspectives from different cultures and times that will enrich and develop their knowledge and thinking. 

All staff foster the enjoyment of English through a broad curriculum built on the premise of challenge to facilitate rapid progress through a variety of learning experiences.  We want our students to be engaged in a dialogue that builds confidence so that they can direct their own learning; identifying their own strengths and areas for development and supporting them in their progress.

The love of the subject is nurtured as students are provided with authentic, meaningful and relevant learning experiences that increase motivation and ensure that they are supported to develop the skills that enable them to compete effectively in the national race for success.

Key Stage 5

AQA English Language and Literature

Paper 1: • Remembered places – the representation of place • Imagined worlds – point of view and genre in prose • Poetic voices – the forms and functions of poetic voice 40% of final grade

Paper 2: Writing about society – the role of the individual in society, and re-creative writing based on set texts • Critical commentary – evaluating own writing • Dramatic encounters – conflict in drama 40 % of final grade

Non-exam assessment: Making Connections: Independent Investigation     20% of final grade

Year 12

Students are introduced to the academic field of Stylistics in order to create an integrated English Language and Literature approach which brings together literary and non-literary discourses. Students are introduced to exploring, through an integrated approach, literary and linguistic fields via shared concepts about the way language choices create representations, both in literary and nonliterary texts: words create worlds, both in literature and elsewhere. Students are offered unique opportunities to consider issues of 'literariness' and 'literalness' that tend to remain unquestioned in the other Englishes. Students are offered opportunities to develop their subject expertise by engaging creatively, critically and independently with a wide range of texts. Using literary and linguistic concepts and methods, students analyse literary and non-literary texts in a range of modes and genres, in the process gaining insights into the nature of different discourses and ideas about creativity. Students develop skills as producers and interpreters of language by creating texts themselves and critically reflecting on their own processes of production.

Year 13

Students continue to explore, through an integrated approach, literary and linguistic fields via shared concepts about the way language choices create representations, both in literary and nonliterary texts: words create worlds, both in literature and elsewhere. Students are offered unique opportunities to consider issues of 'literariness' and 'literalness' that tend to remain unquestioned in the other Englishes. Students develop their subject expertise by engaging creatively, critically and independently with a wide range of texts. Using literary and linguistic concepts and methods, students analyse literary and non-literary texts in a range of modes and genres, in the process gaining insights into the nature of different discourses and ideas about creativity. Students continue to develop skills as producers and interpreters of language by creating texts themselves and critically reflecting on their own processes of production.

AQA English Language A

Paper 1: Language, the individual and society      40% of final grade

Paper 2: Language diversity and change              40% of final grade

Non-exam assessment: Language in action          20% of final grade

Year 12

Students experience a opportunities to explore key language concepts and engage with a range of texts and discourses.  The course explores the English language as a medium of communication and as a topic in its own right.  The emphasis at Year 12 is on the ability of the students to pursue lines of enquiry, analyse texts produced by others and debate different views.

Year 13

Students in Year 13 have the opportunity to develop their subject expertise by engaging creatively and critically with a wide range of texts and discourses.  Students will create texts and reflect critically on their own processes of production, while analysing texts produced by others.  In Year 13 language is seen as a creative tool for expression and social connection, as well as for individual cognition.  The study of language as a symbolic system used to assert power in society is also fundamental to the course in Year 13.

AQA English Literature B

Paper 1: Literary Genres – Aspects of Tragedy                                             40% of final grade

Paper 2: Texts and Genres – Elements of Political and Social Protest          40% of final grade

Non-exam Assessment – Theory and Independence                                     20% of final grade

Year 12

Students study the genre of social and political protest writing, a genre heavily influenced by culture which is continually evolving. 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 passages and familiarise themselves with literary theory.

Year 13

Students study aspects of tragedy. Through the study of novels, plays and poems students explore conventions of genre and are provided with opportunities to build on their analytical and evaluative skills, reflecting on a range of contemporary and historical issues. The course encourages students to understand how narrative works, to look at genre and to learn about critical approaches to texts. Encouraging wide and independent reading, the course also considers different types of critical approach and how texts can reflect cultural meanings.