English

Staff

Ms Howells - Head of Department & KS5 Progress and Achievement 
Mr Hussein - Assistant Headteacher
Ms Watkins - Assistant Headteacher
Mr Black - Director of Literacy   
Ms Pathak - KS4 Progress and Achievement
Mr Wood - KS3 Progress and Achievement
Ms Letang - KS3 SEN and EAL Co-ordinator 
Ms Tahir 
Mr Burgon
Mr Holmes 
Miss Rahman 
Mr Raphael 
Mr Middleton 
Ms Tahir 
Miss Nasim
Miss Northover
Miss Asghar
Miss Murtaza
Miss Menczer
Mr Barber
Mr Wilson - Head of Year 8

If you wish to contact us, then please use the email addresses below: 

Head of Department: howellst@barkingabbeyschool.co.uk  

Director of Literacy: blackr@barkingabbeyschool.co.uk

Key Stage 3: woodj@barkingabbeyschool.co.uk 

Key Stage 4: pathakm@barkingabbeyschool.co.uk

Key Stage 5: howellst@barkingabbeyschool.co.uk  


Department Overview

At Barking Abbey we aim to prepare students for GCSE whilst fostering a love of reading from the moment they arrive in Year 7. We have developed a new curriculum which ties in very closely with governmental changes whilst addressing the needs and interests of our intake. We have devised schemes of work across the year groups which challenge all learners and gives them opportunities to consider the world from a spiritual, cultural and moral perspective. Barking Abbey students are treated to a range of genres and writers, both fiction and non- fiction, to improve their own reading skills and help to develop their writing. We believe our curriculum encourages the students to want to read independently outside of the classroom as this is a key to knowledge and success in our subject.

 

Curriculum Content
Key Stage 3


Year 7  

The following main units are taught 3x a week per half term alongside writing skills lessons 1x per week:  

Year 8 

The following main units are taught 3x a week per half term alongside writing skills lessons 1x per week: 

  • Autumn - ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare (play) and Poetry of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment.
  • Autumn - ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare (play) and Poetry of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment.
  • Spring - The Gothic/ Edgar Allan Poe author study and Diverse Shorts unit (more advanced short stories from Year 7 unit).
  • Summer - 'Punching The Air' by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (novel).

Year 9 

The following main units are taught 3x a week per half term alongside writing skills lessons 1x per week:

  • Autumn: ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by William Shakespeare (play) and ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens (novella).
  • Spring: Poetry & The Environment (poetry unit) and 'Iridescent Adolescent' (short stories).
  • Summer: ‘A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller (play) and preparation for GCSE Language exams.
Key Stage 4 


GCSE 
 


Year 10 & 11 English Language and Literature 

Both are linear courses and 100% exam. We follow the AQA exam board.

English Language 

Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing 

Paper 2: Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives 

English Literature 

Paper 1: Shakespeare and the nineteenth century novel (Macbeth and The Sign of the Four) 

Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry (An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley, AQA Power and Conflict Poetry and Unseen Poetry) 

 

Key Stage 5 

A Level English Literature (Edexcel)

80% Exam, 20% Coursework

Component 1: Drama
Section A William Shakespeare: Othello
Section B Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire
2hr 15 (30%)

Component 2: ‘Science and Society’ comparative prose
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale
1hr 15min (20%)

Component 3: Poetry
Section A: Post-2000 Poetry – Poems of the Decade
Section B: Specified Poetry Pre-1900 Chaucer: The Wife of Bath
2hr 15 (30%)

Coursework: One extended comparative essay referring to two texts

 

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“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”

J.K. Rowling