Humanities
Religious Education at The Orchard Centre is designed to provoke challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.
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It offers opportunities for personal reflection and spiritual development. It enhances students’ awareness and understanding of religions and beliefs, teachings, practices and forms of expression, as well as of the influence of religion on individuals, families, communities and cultures.
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RE has an important role in preparing young people
for adult life, employment and lifelong learning.
It enables students to develop respect for
and sensitivity to others, in particular those
whose faiths and beliefs are different from their own.
It promotes discernment and enables students to combat prejudice.
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At KS4, students follow the AQA GCSE in Religious Studies (Specification A), studying units on:
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Christianity
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Sikhism
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Relationships and families
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Religion and life
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Religion, crime and punishment
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Religion, human rights and social justice
Lawnswood Campus
The Orchard Centre
Lawnswood Campus
Nightingale Home and Hospital Service
English
Impact Statement
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As English has a pre-eminent place in education and in society, a high-quality education in English is essential to teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others, and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know. All the skills of language, developed in English Lessons, are essential to participating fully as a member of society.
Intent Statement
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The overarching aim in English Lessons is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of spoken and written language, and to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment, therefore, students will be encouraged to:
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read fluently and widely
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demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how writers use language and techniques to influence their readers
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develop a critical and analytical style
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write effectively for purpose and audience
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demonstrate a confident control of Standard English
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write grammatically correct sentences, (SpaG)
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deploy figurative language.
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listen to and understand spoken language, and use spoken Standard English effectively
Implementation Statement
The English curriculum is organised into:
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‘formal’ learning of reading, writing, speaking and listening in periods distinctly allocated to this work
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‘informal’ learning which goes on throughout the rest of the curriculum areas covered.
The predominant mode of working in English differs for each aspect of the subject, although all are inter-related. Pupils are taught individually, in small groups or classes of up to ten pupils.
Citizenship, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural aspects are covered through the study of a variety of texts and in class discussions.
GCSE English Language:
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English Language focuses on three assessments
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Explorations in creative reading and writing
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Writer’s viewpoints and perspectives
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Non-exam assessment
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Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing
This is assessed as a written exam which is 1 hour 45 minutes long. It centres on two areas:
-Section A, reading one literature fiction text.
-Section B, descriptive or narrative writing.
This paper is 50% of the GCSE
Paper 2: Writer’s viewpoints and perspectives
This is assessed as a written exam which is 1 hour 45 minutes long. It focuses on two areas:
-Section A, one non-fiction text and one non-fiction literary text.
-Section B, writing to present a viewpoint.
This paper is 50% of the GCSE
GCSE English Literature:
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English Literature focuses on five assessments
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Shakespeare plays
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The 19th century novel
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Modern prose or drama texts
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The poetry anthology
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Unseen poetry
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Paper 1: Shakespeare and 19th century novel
This is assessed as a written exam which is 1 hour and 45 minutes long. It centres on two areas:
- Section A, Shakespeare plays. Students will answer one question on a play of their choice. They will be required to write in detail about an extract from the play and then to write about the play as a whole.
- Section B, 19th century novel. students will answer one question on their novel of choice. They will be required to write in detail about an extract from the novel and then to write about the novel as a whole.
This paper is 40% of the GCSE
Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry
This is assessed as a written exam which is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. It focuses on three areas:
- Section A, modern texts. students will answer one essay question from a choice of two on their studied modern prose or drama text.
- Section B, poetry. students will answer one comparative question on one named poem printed on the paper and one other poem from their chosen anthology cluster.
- Section C, unseen poetry. Students will answer one question on one unseen poem and one question comparing this poem with a second unseen poem.
This paper is 60% of the GCSE
Step Up to English
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This course supports Entry Level students build on their literacy skills and is suitable for all ages. The specification is fully co-teachable with GCSE English Language and focuses on the same assessment objectives.
There are two steps, Silver (Entry 1 and 2) and Gold (Entry 3) which will allow the students to access GCSE’s and progress their learning. Students will complete three components which assess their reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Step Up to English is non-examination based; all components completed are assessed by the teacher.
KS3 English
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Students in KS3 follow the National Curriculum. We endeavour to teach our students to become confident readers and encourage reading for pleasure, which is fundamental in developing skills such as; understanding, interpreting and using inference. We also want our students to be able, confident and competent writers. Adapting to the relevant style and purpose.
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