English

Staff

Mrs S Atkinson (Head of Department)

Mrs S Mann (Second in Department)

Miss M Abdullahi (Teacher of English)

Mrs A Ahmed (Teacher of English)

Mr N Duck (Head of Careers and Teacher of English)

Miss N Hersi (Teacher of English)

Mr A Sanders (Teacher of Geography and English)

Aims

Our aim is that our students experience English as a five- to seven-year journey which follows on seamlessly from their primary school experience and further develops their love of learning, reading and cultural awareness.

We value the diversity of our student body, so we have developed an English curriculum which celebrates and reflects this.

We balance language, literature and oracy to equip our students with skills for life, a love of the written word and the ability to think deeply, carefully and critically.

We encourage independence of thought, dialogue, discussion and rigour, so that, when leaving HGS, our students are ready to go into the world and find their voice.

Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 7 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 8 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 9 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 10 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 11 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 12 Course Calendar

Please click here to view the Year 13 Course Calendar

Curriculum

KS3 (English Language and English Literature)

In KS3, we go beyond the National Curriculum and balance language, literature and oracy, whilst cultivating a love of reading and broadening students’ cultural horizons.

We are proud to use topics from Skills for Writing, a research-based publication which teaches students how to use their grammatical knowledge to improve their writing, as opposed to simply learning grammatical labels.

We use Educake for our core homework which focuses on consolidation of knowledge and technical skills. This is complemented by class teachers’ tasks which stretch and challenge.

Topics studied include:

• The History of English, from Beowulf to the present day
• Crime fiction and non-fiction
• Dystopian, science fiction and Gothic creative writing
• Speech writing and performance in every year
• An exploration of a range of Shakespeare’s plays, with a deeper study of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet
• Animal Farm (modern drama)
• Lord of the Flies and The Woman in Black
• Language, power and persuasion
• War poetry, including poets of WW1 and modern poets, such as Duffy, Armitage, Agard and Harrison
• Identity: a topic which introduces some A Level English Language subjects, such as accent and dialect, geek identity, rhetoric and texts from a range of international cultures

KS4 (GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature)

We study the AQA specifications: English Language (8700) and English Literature (8702).

We use Educake for our core homework which focuses on consolidation of knowledge and technical skills. This is complemented by class teachers’ tasks which stretch and challenge.

In Year 10, we study:

• Macbeth (English Literature Paper 1)
• A Christmas Carol (English Literature Paper 1)
• English Language Paper 2 (non-fiction reading and writing)
• Spoken language endorsement

In Year 11, we study:

• Power and Conflict and unseen poetry (English Literature Paper 2)
• An Inspector Calls (English Literature Paper 2)
• English Language Paper 1 (fiction reading and writing)

We complete the course with plenty of time to revisit and revise all of the topics listed above.

We are fortunate that we have lots of experienced examiners in the team, including Mrs Ahmed who is currently an AQA GCSE English Language examiner, and Mrs Atkinson who will be part of the team creating the new GCSE specifications from 2030.

KS5 (A Level English Language)

We study the AQA specification for English Language (7702) which comprises 80% examinations (Paper 1 Language, the individual and society and Paper 2 Language diversity and change) and 20% NEA (coursework).

We are the only school in the MAT to offer A Level English Language, led by Mrs Atkinson who is a senior associate at AQA.

This means we are uniquely placed to provide an excellent education to our A Level students, providing a platform for future success.

We are particularly proud to offer students free choice in their NEA tasks, meaning that they get to choose – with our support – the topics of their original writing and language investigation, so that they can pursue their own linguistic interests. Examples of recent topics include exploring how:

• Sociolects can be used to create dissonance between communities
• Institutional language can be used to exert power
• Gender roles and stereotypes are represented in mainstream media
• Celebrities adapt the language of their autobiography to craft their public persona
• TV shows represent the world of work and its hierarchies

In Year 12, we study:

• Meanings and representations (Paper 1 Section A)
• Gender (Paper 2 both sections)
• Accent and dialect (Paper 2 both sections)
• Occupation and power (Paper 2 both sections)
• Age and class (Paper 2 both sections)
• NEA original writing and commentary

In Year 13, we study:

• NEA language investigation
• Child Language Development (Paper 1 Section B)
• Global Englishes (Paper 2 both sections)
• Language change (Paper 2 both sections)
• Technology (Paper 2 both sections)

Please feel free to email Mrs Atkinson satkinson@hgs.kevibham.org with any questions.

Extra-Curricular

• We regularly invite students to enter creative writing competitions, including Young Writers and our own competition in memory of our colleague Bronwen Gerrard.Miss Abdullahi runs both ‘Bookflix’, our popular KS3 Book club, and KS3 Film club.In addition, we are excited to launch our inaugural Literary Festival in 2027. Current plans include:
  • Performance poetry with previous Birmingham Poet Laureates
  • The Betty Haigh Shakespeare Prize
  • Creative writing workshops

  Members of the department run exciting extra-curricular trips, including the most recent to Kensington Palace which was led by Mrs Ahmed.

  We will shortly be launching a Year 11 English masterclass run by Mrs Atkinson, to which selected students will be invited in order to improve their critical thinking and writing.