English

At King’s Leadership Academy, Liverpool, the English Department strives to ensure our students are: resilient, inquisitive, driven, lifelong learners.  Studying English at Kings will help students develop the ability to think critically and creatively, to express themselves with confidence and coherence, and to combine deep understanding with personal engagement in their responses to language and literature. We aim to ensure that our students are the very best readers, writers and communicators that they can be so that they enjoy access to all aspects of society beyond their school life.

Our curriculum is varied, extensive and challenging, offering a pathway to success through texts that engage, inspire and motivate our students. Students will be challenged to think beyond their own life experiences and consider a wide range of contextual influences, cultures and global issues.

The students will develop the skills of empathy, critical thinking and reflection through the exploration of a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. Students will have the power to interpret the written word, evaluating the context and the cultural landscape they encounter. They will also develop their writing in a creative, conscious and fluent way, selecting effective vocabulary to achieve their desired effect. Central to our ethos is inspiring a love of reading and appreciation of the written word; deliberate and explicit teaching of vocabulary is at the forefront of all of our lessons, and students will engage with a wide range of ambitious vocabulary that will enable them to articulate themselves clearly in a range of situations both inside and outside of the classroom.

At King’s we create the conditions for students to develop their own opinion and question and challenge perceptions. Our vision is to encourage our students to be confident in their spoken communication; to be accomplished, observant readers and to be critical, evaluative writers.

At Key Stage 3, students study a variety of diverse texts including, ‘Noughts and Crosses’ and ‘Literature from different Cultures’ as well as more traditional texts such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Animal Farm.’ The breadth of the programme of study includes creative and transactional writing as well as the study of detective fiction and dystopian writing. Students particularly enjoy the variety of different writing styles through the exploration of units such as Dickensian London, the art of rhetoric and gothic writing.

At Key Stage 4, students follow the AQA syllabus in both English Language and English Literature. The course builds on the skills which have been embedded in Key Stage 3 in a continuum of learning. Students are encouraged to respond to fiction and non-fiction texts with breadth, in an understanding of the impact of their cultural contexts, and depth, in an appreciation of the effect of stylistic devices. They are given opportunities to write for a wide range of purpose and audience, in tasks which promote expressive fluency as well as ensuring a firm foundation of technical accuracy.

For English Language, the students experience a broad range of 19th century fiction and 20th century non-fiction texts. They have the opportunity to write creatively as well as learning the key skills needed for transactional writing.  In English Literature, students study a range of prose, poetry and drama, ranging from classic to contemporary. As a result of their analysis of a variety of stimulating texts, our students develop a critical understanding of how meaning is shaped both in works from the literary heritage of diverse cultures, and in non-fiction. It will also support cross - curricular achievement and provide an excellent skills base for lifelong learners.