English
The English department aims to foster a real love for the creative aspects of English as well as develop the analytical skills pupils need in order to attain to their potential.
English curriculum
Intent, Implementation, Impact
English lessons are differentiated to meet individual needs, ensuring that all students are able to access the curriculum.
Visual learning is embedded into the curriculum to enable students to understand, remember and apply key concepts.
In High Close’s 2018 Ofsted inspection report, it was noted that, “The use of visual models of different texts in English helped pupils to organise their writing. One pupil told an inspector, ‘I never thought I would learn this and surprisingly, I enjoy my lessons.’”
The speaking and listening component of all courses is delivered by a Drama specialist who works with students to develop life skills such as; increasing confidence in a variety of situations that require speaking to others, assurance in developing own opinions and being able to share this with others in both formal and informal situations.
Marking and feedback
Our robust marking and feedback procedure ensures that students are aware of their current performance and that they engage with and respond to feedback. Curriculum specific targets are set in order to inform pupils how to progress.
English intervention
Where a need is identified, students take part in literacy intervention. Catch Up® Literacy is a structured one-to-one intervention for learners who find reading difficult.
Catch Up® Literacy uses a book-based approach to support learners in their reading of a book so they activate both dimensions of reading – word recognition processes (including phonics) and language comprehension processes.
All children are continually monitored to in the areas of spelling, reading and comprehension. If necessary, we provide booster classes based on individual needs from a Specialist Specific Learning Needs Teacher.
These sessions include a focus on improving spelling, sentence structure and tactics for reading comprehension for those with weaker working memories. Some children need a review of grammar and punctuation while others may need to focus on improving their written work to create a planned logical progression for their work.
Qualifications
All students are entered for external accreditation so that on leaving High Close they have an English qualification. The department offers the WJEC English Language GCSE , OCR Functional Skills and OCR Entry Level English.
Accessing GCSE revision at home
The BBC Bitesize website has exam board specific learning tasks which support the learning students undertake at school. To access these resources, ensure you select the WJEC exam board, English Language option.
