English, Media & Film Studies
Welcome to the English and Media Cluster. Our curriculum is designed to inspire a lifelong love of reading and self-expression. We aim for our students to be critical readers, expressive writers and confident speakers.
The English and Media Cluster fosters a lifelong love for reading and learning. We expose our students to a wide range of literary and non-literary texts, from across time and cultures, which challenge the students’ knowledge and understanding of the world and their own identity. We enable students to communicate effectively, articulately and confidently regardless of the medium, form or situation. We empower our students for future success by giving them the literacy skills to access the wider school curriculum and the opportunities they will receive in later life. We promote critical and analytical exploration of written, visual and auditory texts whilst building empathy within our students. We encourage students to appreciate the viewpoints of others and to consider why differing viewpoints exist.
Skills and Knowledge Acquired
Students in our cluster will acquire a variety of skills and knowledge, including:
- Reading: Becoming critical independent readers that read for pleasure
- Writing: Harnessing original ideas and forming a personal written style
- Analysing: Considering depths of meaning in what they read
- Critiquing: Considering the problems and issues in written ideas.
- Speaking: Engaging in discussions, presentations and drama to aid understanding of texts
- Evaluating: Critically assessing own work and that of others to be critical readers and writers.
Curriculum Maps
Areas of Study
All lessons in English and Media are varied with exciting ways of exploring the written and visual text. Teachers encourage students to express their exploration of texts by reading aloud, discussing its key ideas, writing in a range of forms, and drama performances.
Key Stage 3 (KS3)
- English: Students build on their prior reading of poetry, the novel, plays and non-fiction.
- Media: Appreciating the link between English and Media through the lens of representation.
Key Stage 4 (KS4)
- English: Developing the critique of poetry, the novel, plays and non-fiction through reading, writing and discussion.
- Film Studies: Understanding the narrative structures and techniques used across a range of genres and being able to use film language when analysing texts. Students build on their KS3 study of representation by examining it more broadly in Global and US Film units.
Key Stage 5 (KS5)
- English: Expand on their own critique of poetry, drama and the novel by considering the views of others and how they shape their own reading of texts.
- Media Studies: Students broaden their knowledge of Media to include radio, printed and online news, video games, the film industry, long-form TV drama reinforced through the production of a music video and accompanying website.
Enrichment Opportunities
We offer a variety of enrichment opportunities to enhance students' learning experiences:
- English: theatre trips, author talks, public speaking workshops, seminars, book clubs, creative writing clubs, Book Ambassadors, Library Sleepover
- Film and Media Studies: Film Club, Media Magazine Conference, Production leads for Summer School and the Library Sleepover, 24 Hour Film Challenge
Opportunities for Scholars
While opportunities for students with a keen interest in English, Film or Media can vary year on year, we provide numerous opportunities to excel:
- English: to participate in the clubs on offer in the department, such as Book Club, Speech Club and Creative Writing Club; to attend a range of theatre trips arranged in and out of school hours; to attend public speaking workshops hosted in school and outside; to attend trips to places of cultural interest; and to be leaders in promoting reading across the school as one of our Reading Ambassadors.
- Film and Media Studies: to attend the weekly Film Club, participate in the visit to Sky Academy to be a journalist for the day; to attend the Media Magazine Conference; to be a lead in film production for the Library Sleepover and the annual Summer School.
