What is Literacy?
Literacy means being able to read, write, and communicate clearly. These skills are vital for success in school and everyday life. Our aim is to help students enjoy reading and build strong literacy skills that will support them now and in the future.
Why Reading Matters
We want to create curious thinkers and enthusiastic readers. Research from the National Literacy Trust shows that children who read every day score higher in reading tests than those who don’t.
GCSE exams require a reading age of around 15.7, so it’s important that students build a regular reading habit to prepare for success.
More information: Reading For Pleasure Research | National Literacy Trust
The Importance of Literacy
The Education Endowment Foundation says:
“Young people who leave school without good literacy skills are held back at every stage of life.”
This is why we’re committed to helping every student build strong literacy foundations.
More information: EEF_KS3_KS4_LITERACY_GUIDANCE.pdf
Our Library
Located in the English block, our library is a quiet and welcoming space for reading and study. It’s open during break times and selected after-school sessions.
We offer a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, regular reading recommendations, and host fun competitions and events to inspire students.
Tutor Time Literacy (Years 7–9)
Students use The Day, a website with news and current affairs written for young people. It helps them understand real-world issues while improving reading and thinking skills.
Each term, students also visit the library during tutor time to explore and borrow books.
Reading Age Tests
Throughout the year, students take the New Group Reading Test (NGRT). This helps us understand their reading level and provide support if needed.
Our goal is to help every student reach a reading age of 15 or higher so they can confidently access all their exams.
Across the two-year curriculum, students read and analyse a variety of fiction and non-fiction spanning from Shakespeare to the modern day.
Students in year 7 will be exposed to carefully selected extracts from texts such as The Red Room, Dracula, Frankenstein, Macbeth, The Tempest and Othello, before reading both Boy, Everywhere and Green Rising. They will complete the year by reading Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night.
Students in year 8 will be exposed to a carefully curated selection of conflict poetry, followed by a non-fiction unit on speeches that changed the world during which they will develop their own transactional writing skills. After completing a study of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, students will end the year with Lord of the Flies. Students in both year groups will also have the chance to develop their imaginative writing skills at multiple points during the year.
Students study the Edexcel exam board for both KS4 and KS5. In Year 9, English lessons cover both Language and Literature skills. It acts as a bridging year between KS3 and the full requirements of GCSE. Students will therefore study elements of the GCSE but at a differentiated level and with alternative topics, including Dystopian Fiction (imaginative writing), 'Of Mice and Men', 'Othello' and Tragedies and Disasters (Non-Fiction).
Across both Year 10 and 11, students study the full range of both GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature requirements. In Year 10, this includes study of 19th century fiction analysis and imaginative writing, either 'A Christmas Carol' or 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', a collection of conflict and unseen poetry, followed by the play 'An Inspector Calls'.
In Year 11, students finalise their 'An Inspector Calls' learning before studying non-fiction and transactional writing, followed by 'Macbeth'.
Over the course of Year 10 and Year 11, students will sit a full mock of each exam paper: GCSE English Literature Paper 2 and GCSE English Language Paper 1 in Year 10, followed by GCSE English Language Paper 2 and GCSE English Literature Paper 1 in Year 11.
In year 12, students study two novels ranging from Frankenstein and The Handmaid's Tale, to Beloved and The Picture of Dorian Gray. Students also analyse a collection of poetry from the Poems of the Decade anthology; study then moves onto drama and the reading and analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The curriculum focuses on developing independent learning skills, analysis of dramatic techniques, analysis of poetic techniques and forms, as well as comparing.
Year 13 sees students begin their study of Christina Rossetti poetry and Shakespeare's Othello. These are the final 'taught' elements. Students then move on to assisted revision in lesson.
Concurrently, students independently work on their non examination unit - coursework. Students are tasked with picking two texts to compare on a theme of their choice. The first draft of this is due before the Christmas holidays and then students submit their final piece by February half term. There is an opportunity to visit Cambridge University Library in the summer term of Year 12; this trip gives students member access to the library, lessons in how to research critical responses to their chosen texts, and a study session that arms them with tools for independent study.
