Our intention is that all students study the best that has been thought and said, and to have the cultural literacy required to be educationally and socially mobile. 

Our curriculum intends to:

Give students access to texts that have stood the test of time.

Give students access to texts from a diverse range of authors.

Develop students’ cultural capital and knowledge and curiosity of the world.

Develop students’ reading stamina.

Develop students’ writing stamina.

Develop students’ oracy skills through discussions, pair work, presentations and debates.

Build students’ vocabulary through systematic instruction of Tier Two and Tier Three vocabulary.

Develop students’ ability to write with accuracy, precision and clarity.

Use student assessment to drive student progress.

Give students opportunities to reflect on their own learning.

Ensure learning is remembered through interleaving, spacing, and student use of revision strategies.

Develop a set routine for home learning to allow students to take responsibility for their progress.

Build on what has come before and prepare for what is yet to come through a clearly sequenced curriculum, a curriculum that builds on prior knowledge from primary school and prepares students for further study at Key Stage Four and beyond.

Celebrate excellence.

Ensure students will take pride in their work and will take ownership of their learning.

The English Department at New Road Academy is dedicated to delivering a high-quality, inclusive, and engaging curriculum that promotes academic success, personal development, and a love for language and literature. Our approach is carefully structured to meet the needs of all students, using a variety of pedagogical strategies, enrichment activities, and assessment for learning methods to ensure that all students achieve their full potential.

Our curriculum is designed to be broad, balanced, and ambitious, covering a wide range of literary genres, time periods, and authors, from canonical works to contemporary voices.  It is sequenced to build on prior knowledge and skills, ensuring a clear progression from Year Seven to Year Eleven.

In Key Stage Three, we focus on laying a strong foundation in reading, writing, and spoken language, exposing students to challenging texts and diverse perspectives.

Our topics are theme based, which allows us to teach a wide range of texts each week, such as literature ‘quick reads’, in depth studies, the study of high-quality non-fiction texts, and opportunities for students to hone their creative and transactional writing skills.  We emphasise links across topics, ensuring students can draw connections between literature, culture, and society, while promoting cross-curricular links to enhance their understanding of the wider world.

All lessons are carefully mapped out, with a clear ‘learning journey’ running through each topic and through each lesson.

Lessons begin with an information retrieval activity, which allows students to connect prior learning and retain long-term knowledge. Students are then given a learning objective with clear success criterion.  This is returned to at the end of the lesson with a review activity. Students are always supported in this journey, through modelled answers, class constructed responses and high-quality questioning.

Lessons are adapted to ensure that all students are challenged at their level, with additional support for those who need it and more challenging activities for more advanced students.

Students receive regular formative feedback, including ‘live marking’ in lessons, oral feedback, whole class feedback, peer feedback and individual written feedback from teachers. Students complete two progress assessment tasks per half-term in which personalised feedback is given.

We use assessment data to identify trends and gaps in student learning, allowing us to provide targeted interventions, such as targeted questioning and support in lessons, and extra support sessions or intervention classes for those who need it.

Teachers explicitly teach students how to learn and revise so that they can be successful in regular low stakes tests whilst reinforcing their knowledge for the larger end of unit assessments and ultimately their GCSE examinations. This helps to ensure long-term retention of core principles throughout Key Stage Three and Key Stage Four.

Oracy and public speaking are embedded throughout our teaching, ensuring students develop confidence in articulating their ideas verbally as well as in writing.

We place a strong emphasis on developing students’ literacy skills across all year groups. This includes focused vocabulary instruction using the Frayer Model, glossaries, comprehension strategies, and extended writing opportunities in every unit of work.  Tier Two and Tier Three vocabulary is mapped out throughout each key stage, with core knowledge returned to so that knowledge is retained.

Dedicated reading time is built into our weekly timetable to promote a love of reading, with access to a well-stocked library and reading lists tailored to students’ interests. Moreover, we have introduced ‘quick reads’ for each topic: these are texts that are read for pleasure as a class rather than studied and analysed.

Writing skills are developed through structured tasks that teach students how to craft coherent arguments, analyse language and structure, and experiment with creative writing forms.

Over time, students’ can see their knowledge and skills develop.  Success builds success, fuelling further engagement in English.

In conclusion, the English Department at New Road Academy implements a carefully structured and inclusive curriculum designed to inspire, challenge, and support all learners. Through engaging lessons, enrichment activities, and targeted feedback, we aim to develop confident, literate, and articulate students who are prepared for success both academically and personally.

At New Road Academy, we want all students to be reflective learners, confident and accurate writers, confident in public speaking, and avid readers.  We want to equip students with all the key knowledge and skills for them to be successful in all of their subjects, and also equip students for their futures after their time at secondary school. However, we also want students to have a love of English for its own sake: the study of language and literature is not just about passing examinations. It is also about fostering a love of reading, allowing students to be creative and feeding curiosity about the world around us. Our focus, therefore, is not only on academic excellence but also on equipping students with essential life skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and the ability to express themselves confidently. 

We measure our impact through assessment results, teacher and student voice, book looks and lesson observations. Staff support each other to get better, and staff constantly reflect on their own practice. Our curriculum is under constant review to ensure that we have the most impact from Year Seven onwards.

We expect all students to develop a level of proficiency in reading, writing, and analysis. We provide tailored support to ensure all students, regardless of ability, can make excellent progress. This is evident in improved reading proficiency in yearly reading tests.

By exposing students to a diverse range of texts, from Shakespeare to contemporary authors, from poetry to non-fiction, our department encourages a love of reading and a greater understanding of different cultures, perspectives, and social issues. In lessons, we see engagement with learning.

Through studying key themes such as social justice, inequality, and moral responsibility in literature, students are encouraged to reflect on British values and the role they as students play in society. They leave the department with a heightened sense of empathy and awareness of global issues.

Our focus on oracy in lessons develop students’ confidence and leadership abilities, helping them become articulate, resilient, and proactive individuals. Students’ confidence in speaking and listening is evident in lessons.

We ensure the delivery of new content is interspersed with revision and consolidation activities to ensure that our students are regularly reminded of previous learning.  In lessons, students can recall key information from previous lessons and units. In exercise book scrutiny, we see the impact of vocabulary instruction and modelling in students’ work.

We map out all assessments for the year, ensuring that each progress assessment task is rigorous and allows students to show what they have retained.  Assessments allow students to see their progress, but more importantly, it allows students and teachers to identify gaps in knowledge so that these areas can be addressed. Each assessment is standardised by the department, with further moderation after each assessment, so that students and parents can be assured of the accuracy and validity of data.

The quality of students’ work is regularly scrutinised. In terms of additional scrutiny, our department operates a feedback policy that allows our staff to adapt their feedback to suit the needs of the students in front of them. Every student should have feedback on at least two extended pieces of written work each half term; however, the presentation of this feedback will depend upon the needs of the individual student or class. We deem a crucial factor with feedback to be the time taken between the feedback and the subsequent action taken by the student; this has led to the promotion of instant verbal feedback and live marking across the department.

In Years Seven and Eight, students receive one piece of written homework per week: this homework is an independent task that builds on learning in the previous week’s literacy lessons. In addition, students are expected to read regularly and are given specific reading tasks for each topic.

In Year Nine, students use GCSE Pod twice a week to reflect on the previous week’s learning in class. In addition, specific reading tasks are set for each topic.

To enhance the curriculum, we provide a rich array of enrichment activities. These include book clubs, creative writing workshops, theatre trips, and author visits, all designed to deepen students’ engagement with the subject.

• Regular trips to the school library
• Theatre trips
• Author visits
• Writing competitions
• Reading for pleasure programme
• World Book Day celebrations

If you choose to study English Language or English Literature, there are a variety of fields open to you including media, publishing, education, business and communication.  Here are just a few of the careers open to you: 

• Journalist
• Editor
• Copywriter
• Social Media Manager
• Teacher/Lecturer
• Web content manager/designer
• Public Relations (PR)
• Content Writer/Creator
• Technical Writer
• Publisher
• Librarian
• Advertising Executive
• Proofreader
• Literary Agent
• Communications Officer
• Screenwriter
• Creative Director
• Marketing Executive
• Researcher
• Writer/author