Our Vision

Explore, Empower, Experience — Your Voice Starts Here​

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The English Faculty is dedicated to nurturing a love of language, literature, and self-expression.

Through diverse texts and meaningful discussions, we encourage students to explore new perspectives and deepen their understanding of the world.​

We aim to empower every student to find and develop their own voice—writing with clarity, speaking with confidence, and thinking critically.​

By engaging creatively and analytically, students experience the power of language as a tool for expression, connection, and change.

English Curriculum Learning Journey

Each year students study the same 6 units – but each year the topics will be different allowing them to experience different voices, explore different styles and empower them to discuss different themes and ideas.​

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Yet, they will be able to bring through the knowledge they've gained previously to help them access these new styles and themes. ​

The 6 units are -​

• Legacy Fiction
• Modern Fiction
• Poetry
• Non-Fiction
• Drama
• Media

A love of reading is key to success; it builds knowledge, enhances vocabulary, sharpens critical thinking, and improves communication skills and so alongside our study, each year, students will read two ‘fast read’ books. These books will be chosen to run alongside a unit, being read as a class purely for pleasure, to further experience the joy of story-telling.

Building on knowledge from Key Stage 2, literacy skills are embedded in teaching across the Key Stage so that students can be as confident as possible with them as they begin their GCSEs. As well as regular teacher feedback, we encourage students to be self-reflective and to practise editing and improving their work.

Students are given half termly homework booklets that contain 3 tasks complementing the units being studied in the classroom. These tasks seek to offer opportunities for students to independently practice key literacy skills. To support this, there is a weekly English homework hub at lunchtimes for all to attend.

In preparing for their GCSE examinations, students will be taught the literature and language skills holistically. The long-term plan is designed to ensure students cover the content and skills required for the exams with time incorporated for consolidation and classroom based revision.

Teaching and learning aims to ensure that students grow in confidence with the skills required in English. They are provided with a wide range of activities to practise and develop their expertise; using a variety of texts and multi-modal resources to engage students.

After their two years of study, students will gain two qualifications; English Language and English Literature. The form of assessment is 100% examination, with one level of entry.

Students need to be prepared to discuss a range of texts for the Literature course, including; a modern text or play, a 19^th Century novel, poetry and a Shakespeare play. These choices will depend on the teacher and class.

Students will need to thoroughly engage with these texts as exams are “closed text book”. This means students will have to write about the texts from memory, having no book with them in the exam. To help students prepare for this challenging task, we strongly recommend students purchase their own copies of the texts. This will allow them to make personal notes and take full ownership of their exam preparation. Whilst obviously we will provide texts for in class study, these cannot be written in and need to stay in school for other students’ usage.

English is a fundamental subject as the skills involved ensure students are equipped with a proficient ability to communicate their ideas. Most Sixth Forms, Colleges and Apprenticeships will require a grade in one of the two English qualifications.

KS4 Reading list HERE.

Studying English at A Level develops analytical thinking, communication, and essay-writing skills. It deepens your understanding of literature, language, and culture, enhancing your ability to interpret complex texts. These skills are highly valued by universities and employers, supporting careers in law, journalism, teaching, and more. Our dedicated team brings a wealth of knowledge and diverse expertise, passionately inspiring students by sharing their insight and experience in every lesson. 

English is a popular and successful subject at post-16 study. Students have six 100 minute lessons per fortnight and are taught by two members of staff who divide the teaching of the course between them.

We are always looking at ways to engage and drive our A Level Students, therefore, we frequently offer trips to universities for lectures, theatre trips to see productions and conferences led by experts in their fields.

In addition to advanced levels of study, we offer an enhanced GCSE English Language course for students wishing to re-sit their English qualification in either November or June. 

For more information on each of our courses, please follow the links below -

Farlingaye High School - English Literature

Farlingaye High School - English Language