Curriculum Statement
Two Rivers High School
English Curriculum Statement
Two Rivers High School follows an ‘enquiry based creative curriculum’ whereby the key/basic skills needed to make progress in each subject are embedded within a range of themed studies. Each class explores a variety of engaging studies over the course of a year. We plan our curriculum on a two-year rotation. Most classes have 4 lessons of English a week on their timetable. Students will have one lesson a week called a ‘Big Write’ where we work together to create a creative writing piece. They will then focus two lessons a week on their topic or theme for that term. The final lesson of the week will be spent practicing SPAG skills to consistently and coherently provide ourselves with improved skills and knowledge to improve our writing.
Example of this weekly structure:
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
SPAG lesson |
‘Big Write’ Creative Writing lesson |
The English Department aims to improve educational standards by providing quality, enjoyable and positive learning experiences to students of all ages no matter what their ability or background. We strive to encourage learners to be confident and active students rather than passive recipients. Raising self- esteem and developing resilience are seen as the keys to raising standards. Our students are encouraged to take a more active role in setting their targets so that they feel ownership of them and have a genuine understanding of them. We are committed to Assessment for Learning because it highlights the essential need to involve pupils in a meaningful target setting process and helps them to understand what their next steps are if they are to meet those targets. If our students are participating, they are engaged, and if they are engaged, they will fulfil their potential.
The subject encompasses all aspects of communication – non-verbal, verbal, and written work in English promotes learning across the curriculum and underpins pupils’ achievements and participation in all aspects of their lives. English at Two Rivers High School offers pupils with difficulties opportunities to:
• increase their self- esteem.
• to develop the ability and confidence to respond, to listen and to understand.
• to interact and communicate effectively with others in a range of social
situations.
• to make choices, obtain information, question, reflect and be actively involved
in decision making and problem solving.
• to show initiative and think about the ways in which they learn.
• to develop creatively, imaginatively, and emotionally.
• to have access to a wide range of literature from a range of cultures to enrich
and broaden their experiences.
• to develop and grow academically by improving their reading and writing ability.
• to have opportunities to enhance ICT skills.
• to provide access to external certified courses when appropriate.
• to see that reading and writing are therapeutic tools as much as they are practical and essential to functioning in the world outside Two Rivers. We embrace the school’s motto ‘EDUCATION THROUGH CREATIVITY’ and we want to play a vital role in helping our students to live happy, confident lives.
These opportunities will be provided in a safe environment that pays due regard to the development of the whole child. Each pupil will be treated fairly and have access to a broad, balanced and skills focused curriculum regardless of disability, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
Continuous Development and the Skills Framework
Schemes of work will be updated, and adapted, regularly so that they reflect new and relevant issues in education in order that pupils have access to up-to-date media and literary texts. Every class within each key stage is vastly different so it is imperative that each teacher’s schemes of work are constantly updated and altered so that the individual needs of each pupil are met.
Language, literacy and communication are crucial and key factors in children’s development which will underpin all our planning from 2022 onwards. They will enable every educator to identify the current level of attainment of their pupils and plan for the next step in their learning. Progression is cumulative and not separated into different year groups. We will map curriculum content against the National Curriculum, however the focus on teaching skills appropriate to the pupils’ needs rather than their age, is indispensable to the teaching of children with additional needs. We will analyse pupil data to ensure that our schemes of work are adding value to their education.
Open Classrooms
Our English lessons are always open to visitors, and we welcome partnerships and collaborative work with each other, parents, support agencies, other schools, and writers.
Our Promise
Our developing curriculum will be an ever-evolving curriculum for the twenty-first century. It will always:
• focus on the learner.
• equip learners with transferable skills.
• focus on continuity and progression.
• be inclusive and offer equality of opportunity.
• will be necessarily flexible.
• will support Government policy, including National Curriculum England, Europe and the World, equal opportunities, food and fitness, sustainable development and global citizenship, and the world of work and entrepreneurship.
• focus on the social and emotional aspects of learning.
• transform learning to produce resourceful, resilient, and reflective learners who will become independent and interdependent.
• be relevant, challenging, and interesting to all.
