English at Heath Mount is always an adventure. We broadly follow the expectations of the National Curriculum, whilst also taking advantage of our small class sizes and specialist teachers to provide engaging learning experiences. During their time at Heath Mount, young minds are encouraged to read widely and critically, whilst studying a diverse range of topics that see English both as an art and as the main tool for effective communication.
Pupils in Years 3-6 follow a topic-based curriculum with embedded reading, writing, presentation and speaking and listening tasks. Pupil progress is monitored through continual assessment and once-termly progress checks where reading and writing is reviewed against national standards. Pupils are encouraged to engage with great writing as a starting point for their own creativity and are guided in finding their own individual voice. Underpinning all of this is an expectation that pupils take ownership of their work, with a strong focus on the importance of accuracy in reading and writing.
The curriculum for pupils in Year 7 and 8 continues to explore a range of topics. In these upper years, our focus is broad. We introduce pupils to the key literary periods and ideas that will anchor their studies as they head towards GCSE and beyond. From getting to grips with the language of Beowulf to using real-life documents to build a case for the defence in our Titanic unit, pupils in Year 7 and 8 are encouraged to value their individual voice whilst thoughtfully engaging with the voices of others.
To see the English Curriculum map for the Lent Term please Click Here
Reading
We encourage a culture of reading and work closely with our libraries, located in each of the three school buildings, to suggest engaging reads on a variety of themes, helping to build pupils’ life-long reading habits. The English department use a variety of fun initiatives to encourage a love of reading such as our 'Reading Rampage' competition where children are challenged to read a diverse range of high quality literature which they can then recommend to their peers. We also love to celebrate World Book Day with a variety of fun literary themes.
Poetry
The English department encourage children from the Pre-Prep upwards to read and memorise poetry. Every pupil takes part in our annual Recite! poetry competition where they choose a poem to memorise and read aloud to their year group with our finalists from Year 3 upwards going on to perform to the school in our Performing Arts Centre. We also award prizes to pupils who write and perform their own poems.