English

"That’s what learning is: you suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way"
Doris Lessing

The English Department at Paddington Academy is made up of a dynamic team of teachers who lead learning in the classroom in innovative and exciting ways. 
The classrooms in the English department are equipped with the most up-to-date interactive whiteboard technology and with hand-held devices in order to keep learning exciting. Our department enjoys close links with the Media and Literacy departments and students frequently undertake cross-curricular projects with these subjects, as well as using Learning Skills in their lessons. We regularly arrange for trips out to workshops and performances at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre as well as inviting storytellers and actors to come in and work with our students.

The curriculum for Key Stage Three (KS3) is designed to meet the needs of our students and to cover the full range of reading, writing and speaking & listening skills that they will need in order to succeed, both in their educational and in their professional lives. Our specially designed curriculum introduces students to a range of reading skills and a variety of text types: drama, poetry, and fiction, as well as journalism, advertising, and film. Our aim is for Paddington students to be competent and critical readers, no matter what the starting point. We offer a range of advanced skills to our learners that will lead them into the development of their analytical skills in preparation for KS4 and further study. As well as offering support and interventions to help with reading and literacy, we teach high-level reading skills that are essential in many other subjects. All classes in KS3 read regularly as a class and students are encouraged to read independently outside of school as well. Furthermore, we aim to develop the communication skills of all our students, both written as well as spoken and encourage a great deal of drama, talk and play in the classroom.

We offer English and English Literature GCSE qualifications and teach to the AQA specification A. Students complete five pieces of coursework in Year 10 and go on to study a range of poetry as well as the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ in Year 11. Our differentiated and specialised curriculum is focused on learning skills and ensures that every student is able to reach their full potential and learn in a style which suits them. We have extremely high expectations of students’ coursework: both for meeting our strict deadlines and for reaching our challenging target grades. We are delighted to offer Holiday Academy and intervention workshops as well as numerous trips and workshops. Our students at KS4 have access to the same extra-curricular support as at KS3 and lessons are planned to ensure that every student reaches their potential - with a bit of hard work.

Students in the sixth form study for AS and A2 Literature qualifications, following AQA Specification A. Our seminar style classes offer a dynamic environment where students are stretched and challenged by the learning. This A-Level course allows students to develop as informed, independent readers and critics of literary texts. It also develops thinking skills. The course involves a range of literary study from different periods and genres, including novels, plays and poetry. Lessons are focused on group and class discussion of texts but will also include research and other activities as well as written work. The course is for students who enjoy reading as they will be expected to read independently beyond the set texts studied in class.