HHSEnglish

"What Can English Do For You?"

Welcome to the Henley High School English Department

English is central to our lives, our identity and, therefore, our school.  We define who we are by what we say, write and choose to read.  The written word pervades our world: on the street, online, in novels, poems, plays.  From shopping lists to Shakespeare, English is everywhere!
In the English department we try to reflect the ubiquity of English in our choice of texts.  We are ambitious (for example we use the word “ubiquity” on our website) and so, as well as reading magazine articles and straightforward explanatory texts, we also look at a range of novels, poetry and sophisticated descriptive writing.
We’re ambitious, too, in our writing: pupils are taught to use English accurately in order that their writing can be used for every day life: instructions, explanations, formal letters and so on.   Furthermore, however, pupils are taught to write creatively: descriptions, narrative, and imaginative ideas are explored through both collaborative and individual writing.
The national curriculum has long since recognised the importance of speaking and listening and we are in complete agreement.  Speaking and listening is at the heart of our lessons and pupils are given a range of opportunities to develop their confidence in speaking to the class or in small groups.
At GCSE we follow AQA Specification A (see http://www.aqa.org.uk for past papers). The long term plan for GCSE may help you manage your coursework plan.  Both the plan for those students who started their GCSE in 2007 and the plan for those who started in 2008 can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.  Coursework is marked out of 54 (or 27 for writing assignments).  Here (click to download ) you’ll find a description of how these numbers are decided upon and how they relate to grades.
At present there are two “pathways” for Key Stage 3 – the normal route and the fast track route followed by the top two sets.  Details of these plans can be found here (Key stage three plans).
At Key Stage 3 pupils are told their target levels at the start of each year and given a level reflecting their current performance once a term.  This information can be found in your child’s exercise book.  To see how your child could improve his level in Reading or Writing you may want to check their current performance and then look at http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/progressionmaps/default.htm

File Downloads

GCSE Long term PLan for Students who started GCSE in 2007

Long Term Plan

GCSE Long Term Plan for Students starting GCSE in 2008

Long Term Plan

Previous YEAR 9 SATS Paper

SATS Papers 2003

• Henry V
• Macbeth
• Markscheme
• Reading answer booklet
• Reading booklet
• Twelfth Night
• Writing test

SATS Papers 2004

• Henry V
• Macbeth
• Markscheme
• Reading booklet
• Reading test booklet
• Twelfth Night
• Writing test

SATS Papers 2005

• Henry V
• Macbeth
• Markscheme
• Much Ado
• Reading booklet
• Reading test paper
• Writing paper

SATS Papers 2006

• Macbeth
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Reading booklet
• Reading test paper
• Richard III
• Writing paper
• Writing paper answer booklet

SATS Papers 2007

• Much Ado About Nothing
• Reading booklet
• Reading test paper
• Richard III
• The Tempest
• Writing paper

Aims

To foster in our pupils a lifelong love of reading and writing;
To allow pupils to develop their skills and confidence in speaking and listening, reading and writing;
To help our pupils reach and exceed their targets in public exams;
To give pupils literacy skills that will help them be successful in school and in life

Useful Links

List of the spellings children should know at KS3

Key stage 4 Reading list