English
Our Vision
Our English Curriculum is designed to ensure that Meadowhead students:
- Know and understand a rich and diverse range of challenging literature
- Know and understand the patterns, history and diversity of English
- Develop independent and critical responses to texts
- Create engaging, interesting and accurate texts
- Articulate their views and engage in meaningful discussion and debate
English at Meadowhead combines reading of the word and reading of the world. Through the texts we read, students will travel to different places, cultures, perspectives and traditions. In responding to these texts, they will become confident communicators in writing and speech.
Please click the hyperlinks (blue text) to access the knowledge organisers
Key stage 3 (7-9)
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Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
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Term 1 |
Poetry: Who We Are - People and Identity |
DEAL: Welcome to Nowhere (changing for 2025-6) |
Poetry: What We Are -Being Human Purple Hibiscus |
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Assessment |
‘The Art of Writing’ assessment: Using rhetoric to write a speech, letter or an article. |
Assessment Week 1: ‘History of Language’ (45 minutes in total) Section A: A quiz on content (10mins) (vocabulary, Invaders, Innovators and Inventors) Section B: A piece of opinion writing in response to a statement (35mins) |
‘Poetry’ assessment: Creative task with commentary |
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Term 2: |
Poetry: Who We Are – People and Identity 19th Century Literature Modern Novel: Bone Sparrow |
Creative Writing |
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Assessment |
Assessment Week 1: ‘Roots of Western Literature’: A 20-question quiz based on the texts you and a detailed written description of a place. |
Assessment Week 2: ‘The Tempest’: A quiz on the context of the play and key quotations + an extended writing question based on an extract from the play. |
Assessment Week 1: ‘Blood Brothers’: a quiz on characters, quotes and key vocab followed by a choice of essay questions on the text |
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Term 3: |
Drama: A Midsummer Night’s Dream DEAL: Welcome to Nowhere |
Fahrenheit 451 |
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| Assessment |
Assessment Week 2: Poetry response: A quiz and some analytical writing |
Dystopian Fiction assessment: Writing Dystopia ‘The War of The Worlds’ assessment: Creative response |
Assessment Week 2: ‘Our Sheffield’: Write a short story (or the opening to a story) about a Sheffielder |
Key stage 4 (10-11)
GCSE English Literature Knowledge Organisers
Paper One:
A Christmas Carol
Paper Two:
Lord of the Flies
Power and Conflict Poetry (essentials)
Conflict Poems
Power Poems
GCSE English Language Knowledge Organisers
GCSE English Language Help Mat
English Language Paper Two: Literary Non-Fiction and Persuasive Writing
GCSE English Language: Literary Fiction and Creative Writing
| Year 10 | Year 11 | |
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| Term 1 |
Power and Conflict Anthology Poetry (Part 1 – Conflict) Unseen Poetry 19th Century Novel: A Christmas Carol |
Modern Novel: Lord of the Flies |
| Assessment | Assessment Week 1: Anthology Poetry response (conflict) |
Mock exams: English Language Paper 1: Creative Explorations in Reading and Writing English Literature Paper 1: Shakespeare and 19th Century Text |
| Term 2 |
Power and Conflict Anthology Poetry (Part 2 – Power) English Language Paper 2: Non-Fiction |
Revision |
| Assessment | Spoken Language Presentation |
Mock Exams: English Language Paper 2: Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives English Literature Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry |
| Term 3 |
Macbeth Revision |
Revision |
| Assessment |
Assessment Week 2: Pupils complete Section B Q5 of English Language Paper 2 Y10 Mock exams: English Language Paper 2 English Literature Paper 1 |
Final exams |
Key stage 5 (12-13)
English Literature
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Year 12 |
Year 13 |
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Term 1 |
Introduction to Modern Literature and Unseen Poetry Othello The Great Gatsby |
The Handmaid’s Tale
Feminine Gospels |
| Assessment |
Section A: Test on Modern Times Unit Section B: Comparative essay on two poems |
Paper 1: Unseen Poetry and Love Poetry/Gatsby Paper 2: Unseen Prose |
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Term 2: |
Love Poetry A Doll's House |
Revision of Y12 Content: Othello, Unseen Poetry, The Great Gatsby and Love Poems |
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Trials |
Paper One: Othello, Gatsby and Love Poems, Unseen Poetry |
Paper Two: Feminine Gospels, Unseen Prose, The Handmaid’s Tale and A Streetcar Named Desire |
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Term 3: |
A Streetcar Named Desire Unseen Prose NEA drafting and development |
Revision and Exam Preparation |
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Resit trials |
Paper One: Othello, Gatsby and Love Poems, Unseen Poetry |
Paper Two: Feminine Gospels, Unseen Prose, The Handmaid’s Tale and A Streetcar Named Desire |
| Assessment | Paper 1: Gatsby and Love poems |
English Language (Paper 1 Knowledge Organiser, Paper Two Knowledge Organiser, Language Levels)
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Year 12 |
Year 13 |
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Term 1 |
Introduction to sociolinguistics Language and Gender Accent and Dialect |
Child Language Acquisition (spoken) Completion of NEA (Investigation and Original Writing) |
| Assessment | Paper 1: Analysis | |
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Term 2: |
Language and Social Groups Language and Age Language and Sexuality Language and Occupation |
Child Language Acquisition (reading and writing World English |
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Trials |
Paper 1: Meaning and representation in Language |
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Term 3: |
Language and Ethnicity NEA: Investigation NEA: Original Writing |
Revision and exam preparation |
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Resit trials |
Paper 1: Meaning and representation in Language |
Paper 1: Meaning and representation in Language |
| Assessment | Full AS Paper 2 |
Useful websites
Extra-curricular / enrichment
We are proud of our range of extra-curricular trips and visits. Over the last few years, our trips have included visits to see ‘Blood Brothers’, ‘Othello’, ‘King Lear’, ‘Lord of The Flies’, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, and ‘A Monster Calls’. We also welcome travelling theatre groups into school. Our multi-school creative writing project Everyone a Writer allows all students to submit work for publication in an annual anthology.
A Christmas Carol - performed by Quantum Theatre at Meadowhead
"Words are some of the most powerful and important things I know....Language is the tool of love and the weapon of hatred. It's the bright red warning flag of danger--and the stone foundation of diplomacy and peace."
Ludwig Wittgenstein