English

The English curriculum at Aston Manor Academy is fundamentally underpinned by our motto: All Different; All Equal; All Achieving.

Our curriculum intent in KS3 aims to ensure two key concepts: to ensure students are exposed to a wide variety of genres, text types and time periods so that they receive a solid grounding in the knowledge and skills needed in preparation for beginning their GCSE studies, and to expose students to topics which develop their cultural capital; demonstrating careful consideration our school’s diverse context and ethos, to ensure we add depth of inference and develop clarity of the nuances found in texts.

End Points for each scheme of work mirror the assessment objectives required by exam boards in KS4, but our focus in KS3 is to provide students with time and guidance; each scheme of work in KS3 involves the explicit teaching and accumulation of new knowledge, thus the build of up of skills is staggered so that time can be taken to ensure they are taught thoroughly before adding an additional component to students reading and writing ability. For all students, the first term of Year 7 focuses on ensuring that all students are taught the knowledge and skills needed to place them at an equal starting point with their peers, so that no students are left behind.