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English Department

Vision Statement for the English Department

We believe great literature transforms hearts and minds.

Our English department is dedicated to fostering a transformative educational experience, changing the way our students perceive important themes, from the personal to the systemic, across time, form and place:

1. We are accountable for what we say and how we say it.
2. We read for the growth of our perspective, pleasure, and appreciation of the written word.
3. We prioritise new vocabulary to read more advanced texts and communicate complex ideas.
4. We read novels, plays and poems that have influenced Western culture, enabling us to orient ourselves sensitively in the modern world.

We aspire to instil a deep understanding and reflection of human resilience and the power of overcoming adversity. By using culturally significant literary texts, we encourage our students to learn from the errors of the past. Through our curriculum texts, we aim to:

- Year 7: Equip students with the hope and ability to overcome challenging circumstances, fostering resilience and fortitude. Students transition into this year by refining their writing and literacy skills with the ‘Step into the Unknown’ unit. After this, they begin their transformational journey through literary texts. All texts studied in this year have a focus on how people overcome various challenges: Texts -Jane Eyre, Intro to Poetry (personal themes) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

- Year 8: Encourage critical thinking and awareness of corruption and abuse of power, nurturing a commitment to ethical principles. Students transition into this year by refining their writing and literacy skills with the ‘Dystopian Settings’ unit. After this, they will continue their transformational journey through literary texts. All texts studied in this year have a focus on corruption and abuse of power: Texts - Animal Farm, Poetry (Rebellion and Revolt) and Macbeth.

- Year 9: Cultivate an environment that recognises and challenges prejudice, promoting equal opportunities for all to achieve their dreams. Students transition into this year by refining their non-fiction writing and literacy skills with the ‘Taking the Stand’ unit. After this, they will continue their transformational journey through literary texts. All texts studied in this year highlight social injustice and appropriate responses to it: Texts - Of Mice and Men, Contemporary Global Poetry and Willy Russell’s ‘Blood Brothers.

Each unit is sequenced with a logical progression towards transformation and ‘taking action’. For example, in Y9, students read ‘Of Mice and Men’ to learn about recognising prejudice and discrimination, in their global poetry unit they learn about how to ‘express’ feelings about injustice in the world and finally, studying Educating Rita allows them to see somebody responding to their own repressive environment and taking action in the world.

At KS4, our curriculum extends this vision by selecting great texts that highlight character transformation through personal reflection. Texts – An Inspector Calls, Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol. They study Edexcel English Language, including imaginative and transactional writing and Eduqas English Literature.

Aligning KS3 and KS4 texts with the transformational journey ensures that our students' personal growth is at the core of our educational intent. By engaging with narratives that confront humanity's historical and personal mistakes, we empower our students to rise above these failings and emerge as compassionate, enlightened individuals, equipped to make a positive impact on the world.

Our students explicitly learn to talk and through talk, with oracy skills developed and embedded each year through presentation, recital, discussion and drama. In additional, our intention for students to build a sophisticated vocabulary will enable all of them to express their inner voice fully, encouraged by accessing challenging canonical literature. We want our students to articulate how they have been affected by their literary studies with nuance, clarity and confidence by the time they reach the end of their learning journey at Madani.