The main goal of the English Department at Dedworth Middle School is to inspire the love of the subject in our pupils whilst also maintaining good academic standards and SATs results. The department works hard to achieve improving results at all levels and we are proud that most of our students enjoy the subject.

The department consists of ten teachers and three of these are subject specialists. The Subject Leader, Mrs L Goody, oversees the schemes of work for all year groups and all rooms used for English are now equipped with an Interactive White Board  ensuring that pupils are able to engage with multi-modal texts.

As a core subject, the demands and the expectations of the department are significant. All students sit their English ‘SATs’ in the May of Year 6, which consist of two separate papers. The department covers much of the work required for Key Stage 3 and works with the other Middle Schools and The Upper Schools to ensure pupils are fully immersed in the secondary curriculum. For Writing, students are introduced to diverse fiction and non-fiction texts which they use to develop fully their interpretive and analytical skills. In addition they undertake a number of writing tasks, covering many purposes from descriptive and narrative writing to analytical and persuasive. These skills are tested both under exam conditions in the Transfer tests in June of each year and in pupils’ portfolios. Speaking and Listening is also an integral part of the subject and classroom discussion and debate are valued.

Equipment:

All pupils need to bring a blue pen, pencil, ruler and reading book to class.

Presentation Guidelines:

• Rule off your last piece of work
• Underline all titles and dates
• Write in blue pen
• Use paragraphs in extended writing
• Proof read your work carefully

Homework Guidelines:

Homework is set once a week. To succeed in the various homework tasks, it might be helpful for KS3 students to remember the following:

Writing Tasks:

• Empathy written responses – imagine you are inside another person’s mind; view things from their perspective; write in the first person using “I”
• Personal responses – these also require first person narration; develop your accounts using imagery, description, humour
• Factual writing – aim for clear statements which do not allow for misunderstandings
• Critical responses – use an objective and analytical approach and style

Speaking and Listening Tasks:

• Presenting a reading – underline key phrases and highlight key words and phrases for emphasis; practice reading to someone; be aware of tone, pace and volume
• Interviewing – have a clear aim in mind; prepare a set of questions; be flexible and add more questions if necessary; take notes; record responses
• Analysing and listening to a media stimulus – have a clear focus; make bullet point notes

Reading:

• Research – have a clear focus; start small; if printing off the internet, highlight the relevant points
• Personal reading – find time on your own; spend at least 20-30 minutes at one time; get comfortable; be prepared to talk about what you have read
• Use PEE (point, evidence, explanation) to support your ideas.
• Reading for information – learn to skim and scan a document; aim to identify and spot key words and relevant facts

Spelling

The following websites and lists may be of help to parents who wish to support their children with key spellings:

Year 5 & 6

Year 7 & 8

List of spelling words:

: accommodation : evidence : possession : actually : explanation : potential : alcohol : February : preparation : although : fierce : prioritise : analyse/analysis : forty : process : argument : fulfil : proportion : assessment : furthermore : proposition : atmosphere : guard : questionnaire : audible : happened : queue : audience : health : reaction : autumn : height : receive : beautiful : imaginary : reference : beginning : improvise : relief : believe : industrial : remember : beneath : interesting : research : buried : interrupt : resources : business : issue : safety : caught : jealous : Saturday : chocolate : knowledge : secondary : climb : listening : separate : column : lonely : sequence : concentration : lovely : shoulder : conclusion : marriage : sincerely : conscience : material : skilful : conscious : meanwhile : soldier : consequence : miscellaneous : stomach : continuous : mischief : straight : creation : modern : strategy : daughter : moreover : strength : decide/decision : murmur : success : definite : necessary : surely : design : nervous : surprise : development : original : survey : diamond : outrageous : technique : diary : parallel : technology : disappear : participation : texture : disappoint : pattern : tomorrow : embarrass : peaceful : unfortunately : energy : people : Wednesday : engagement : performance : weight : enquire : permanent : weird : environment : persuade/persuasion : women : evaluation : physical