English

ENGLISH AT KS3

Overview

Here at Hartland, we pride ourselves on providing a varied and stimulating English curriculum, packed with a range of engaging and exciting texts. We aim to not only instil a love of literature and enthusiasm for approaching new challenges but we also encourage our students to discover the creative writers within. This year, students have developed a range of skills that are integral to their success not only in their academic career, but also in the wider world.

Year 7

Our Year 7 students started the year with the study of a text that has previously been celebrated at the Emirates Festival of Literature – either ‘Our Castle By The Sea’ by Lucy Strange or ‘The Island At The End Of Everything’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Together, we explored the historical context of these texts, and how this can shape a novel and allow us to empathise with the characters. This also provided the inspiration for some of our descriptive writing.

The start of the new year signalled a move towards a new text, this time one of the Shakespearean classics: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or ‘The Tempest’. The study of this British literary heritage text allowed us to explore theatre in 1500s England and the techniques that playwrights could use to maintain the interest of the live audience. We then moved onto writing newspaper articles, first by studying the difference between tabloids and broadsheets, and then applying this knowledge to our own writing. We then completed the year by examining poetry – not only analysing techniques that poets use but also writing our own!

Year 8

Our English journey in Year 8 began by exploring Detective Fiction. Not only did we cover classic texts including Sherlock Holmes, but we also studied more modern murder mysteries, allowing our students to become the detectives themselves! This then led seamlessly onto students using these to inspire their own creative writing, including the description of their own quirky detective and sidekick.

In the New Year, students were then able to apply these analytical skills to the famous Shakespeare play, ‘Macbeth’. This allowed for considerable debate on the supernatural and motivations for power which led to some lively discussions. Year 8s then continued with the study of Travel Writing, covering travel guides, travel article and travel narratives. Not only did this allow for some escapism into the faraway land of the student’s choice, but also ensured we brushed up on our persuasive writing skills. Finally, we ended the year with the study of Conflict Poetry, allowing students to delve into the experience of soldiers fighting in World War One and uncovering the vast range of emotions they must have experienced.

Year 9

In Year 9, the year began with the study of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Shakespeare and a trip to Dubai Opera to watch it being performed helped to bring the tale to life. Students got some insight into what to expect in their IGCSE exams as they developed their analytical responses in order to be more perceptive and sophisticated. Following this, we used the themes that we covered to inspire our own narrative writing revolving around the notion of ‘deceit’.

We then moved onto the in-depth study of poetry on the theme of ‘Relationships’. This allowed students to consider the inspiration behind poetry, and how language and structure can be used effectively for meaning.

Year 9 then covered the important skill of rhetoric and persuasive writing techniques used in speeches. At a time when world leaders were frequently addressing their nations, students were able to analyse the speeches of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and the Queen – and were able to offer handy tips on how they could improve their speeches!

Finally, Year 9 ended the year by studying the modern drama, ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J. B. Priestley. This journey began with the exploration of life in 1910s Britain and the ‘Capitalism vs Socialism’ debate. Whilst reading the text, students considered who we should be socially responsible for and whether capitalism really does have a positive impact on our society.

Year 10

Our Year 10s began their IGCSE journey with the study of Of Mice and Men, the famous novella by John Steinbeck. We explored the lives of bindlestiffs in 1930s America and how The Great Depression and the Dustbowl impacted on the most vulnerable members of society. Students practised their analytical skills and worked on weaving their knowledge of context into their response. In the New Year, we moved onto shorter, non-fiction texts from the Edexcel Anthology. We studied the purpose and audience of 10 different texts, including texts on Aron Ralston who had to cut off his own arm when he got lost climbing and a recount of two explorers whose helicopter ditched over on their way to Antarctica!

Finally, we ended the year with our coursework for the English Language IGCSE. This allowed students to be creative and write their own imaginative writing piece, before studying a range of poems and writing a personal response to these.

Shakespeare Under the Stars

“Two households both alike in dignity In fair Verona where we lay our scene.”

Once again, the KS3 students stepped onto the stage to present Shakespeare Under the Stars with their version of Romeo and Juliet. This collaborative project brings together the departments of English, Drama and Music and all KS3 students that wish to participate. Our beautiful Reflection Garden transported the audience to the Italian city of Verona. It was a delightful evening, and everyone performed with enthusiasm and flair. Adding their own twist on this classic tale, with music by Taylor Swift, Kyga and Ed Sheeran, this ambitious group of students demonstrated that Shakespeare is entertaining and still relevant. This annual event challenges the students to tackle the language of Elizabethan English and to engage with complex narratives, always resulting in a sense of accomplishment by everyone. Hopefully, the audience left the garden feeling a little of the magic sprinkled by these up and coming thespians.

Ms E Sanderson

Head of English

GIFTED & TALENTED

This has been another exceptionally busy year for the Gifted and Talented Department with a plethora of opportunities offered internally and externally. Pupils from FS1 all the way up to Year 10 have represented Hartland this year whether it be through competitions or events.

Within School

There has been a focus on big questions this year in classes to stimulate children’s thinking and engage further thought. Should we travel to space? Why do we study ancient civilisations? These are just some of the examples of questions designed to probe deeper thought. Higher-order thinking questions are regularly posed, and children are encouraged to evaluate their work and reflect on their own learning. Additionally, pupils are encouraged to select their own entry points for challenges which allow them to challenge themselves further. The enrichment programme continues to offer an excellent range of opportunities for our more-able pupils to further develop their strengths whether it be artistic, sporting or academic. F1 in schools, the DIDI project and the Model United Nations have all been popular. New this year has been the student leadership programme. Whether it be the School Council, Charity Committee or Sustainability Team, there are a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their ‘soft skills’ as well as doing something for the wider community.

Dubai Schools Events

The number of schools involved in the enrichment league has grown this year and, with that, the range of opportunities has increased with every area of the curriculum covered. Hartland continues to drive these events with us hosting the MasterChef event, Monologue Slam and Design Technology tournament which are firm favourites on the primary schools’ calendar. For the MasterChef event, pupils had to make a pizza, design the pizza box, produce a persuasive poster and present this all to the judges. In previous years, a theme has been given for the Monologue Slam. This year, pupils were able to select and perform their own pieces which allowed the aspiring thespians to add their individuality to the performance. As the secondary school grows, it has been wonderful to offer a similar range of opportunities for our secondary pupils. The Design Technology event was a big hit with the school community; a particular highlight was xxxxx from DIDI sharing her experience as a designer and judging the competition. It was fantastic to see so many Hartland pupils excelling here. Up to February, we attended over 12 league events for Key Stage 2 ranging from debates, maths themed escape rooms, coding and STEM events. Notable successes were achieved at the MineCraft event and the Olympiad. However, at all times our pupils worked hard, persisted and worked collaboratively either as a school team or as mixed-school teams. It was a pleasure to accompany on them on these trips. This was also the first year that Hartland participated in the Maths Cup, a secondary school league for aspiring mathematicians.

National & International events

Over the course of the year, Hartland pupils have had the opportunity to participate in a range of national and international competitions including Poetry, Art, Coding and Creative Writing. Once again, a number of pupils represented Hartland at the EAFL Chevron Readers’ Cup and Performance Poetry competitions. There have also been whole school initiatives with BSME and COBIS being entered. A highlight of the year being Habiba Habib and Emily Steinberg being awarded winner and runner-up in the BSME Photography competition.

I would personally like to thank all the parents for their continued support and the teachers for being engaged and continuing to explore ways to challenge the learning of the more-able pupils further. However, the biggest thanks goes to the pupils and their continuous enthusiasm, energy and perseverance. They have been a pleasure to work with and I look forward to another exciting year working alongside them.

Mrs R Munif