English improves your critical thinking skills, it increases your educational opportunities and can lead to successful employment.

At Lindsworth we place great importance on an English curriculum which caters for and develops our pupils.

English is mapped to include coverage of the national curriculum and prepares and equips pupils with the knowledge skills and understanding for life in modern Britain. Our curriculum is designed to challenge, engage and motivate in the hope that our learners progress academically and become successful, confident individuals.

Our English curriculum is ever changing and is planned according to the needs of our pupils. This means that changes are constantly made depending on pupils’ experiences and changing circumstances.

English at KS4

Cambridge IGCSE

As an approved and registered Cambridge International School, our selected exam board for our English qualification is Cambridge IGCSE First Language English. The course enables students to:

•  Develop the ability to communicate clearly, accurately and effectively when speaking and writing
•  Use a wide range of appropriate and ambitious vocabulary (tier 2 and tier 3 specifically), as well as   the correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
•  Develop a personal style and an awareness of the audience being addressed
•  Develop the ability to write in a specific style and for a specific purpose
•  Develop more general analysis and communication skills such as selection and retrieval,     summarisation, inference and deduction, and the ability to order facts appropriately and present     opinions effectively.

Students are also encouraged to read widely, both for their own enjoyment and to further their awareness of the ways in which English can be used.

Assessment

Throughout the course, students will produce three extended writing assignments which create a coursework portfolio. These assignments will be focussed on a range of different purposes, incorporating the skills above. This will make up 50% of students’ overall English Language qualification.

Finally, students will complete an examination which will assess students’ ability to read and retrieve information as well as writing for a range of audiences. It will assess their written communication and their spelling, punctuation and grammar.

The skills covered in the syllabus are outlined below:

Reading 

•  Demonstrate understanding of written texts, and of the words and phrases within them
•  Summarise and use material for a specific context
•  Develop, analyse and evaluate facts, ideas and opinions
•  Demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve their effects and influence readers
•  Select appropriate information for specific purposes
•  Recognise and respond to linguistic devices, figurative language and imagery. 

Writing 

•  Express what is thought, felt and imagined
•  Organise and convey facts, ideas and opinions effectively
•  Demonstrate a varied vocabulary appropriate to the context
•  Demonstrate an effective use of sentence structures
•  Demonstrate an understanding of audience, purpose and form

Speaking and Listening

•  Describe and reflect on experience, and express what is thought, felt and imagined
•  Organise and convey facts, ideas and opinions effectively
•  Understand and convey complex ideas
•  Communicate with clarity, focus and purpose
•  Communicate appropriately for the context
•  Engage appropriately in conversation.

As part of our curriculum plans all students also work on English Literature throughout KS4 to deepen their English Language skillset, as well vocabulary development and promoting a love of reading. These skills lend themselves explicitly to learning and achievement in other subjects.