Here at The Park Academies Trust we use cookies to: - improve our website performance; - help you share our content across your social media networks; and - personalise our advertisements to you.
To accept our cookies please click the button below, or for further details and the chance to specify your cookie preferences please click ‘more information’.
You can change your preferences at any time by visiting the "Cookies Preferences" page, which can be found via our footer. View our Cookie policy for full details.
The English and Media faculty delivers the following subjects for pupils and students to enjoy:
KS3 - EnglishKS4 - English Language (GCSE), English Literature (GCSE) and Media Studies (GCSE) KS5 - English Language & Literature (A-level), English Literature (A-level) and Media Studies (A-level)
As a core subject we believe students thrive if they develop a love of reading as well as the ability to communicate clearly in a variety of ways. In each year we alternate an engaging variety of novels, plays and poetry each linked to activities that enable the development of skills with units that encourage a range of writing styles including both fiction and non-fiction. From topical discussion to investigation of language choices, students will be challenged to extend their critical thinking, become increasingly evaluative and increase the accuracy, eloquence and imagination of their written work.
If you would like any further information regarding the work we do in our faculty please do not hesitate to contact us. You can find members of the faculty team here.
What will be studied in Year 7?
‘Cirque du Freak’ by Darren Shan and a range of short stories and poems are read. Writing units include Autobiography and short story writing. Students also work on their own speeches to the class to enable them to develop speaking and listening skills in our ‘Finding Our Voice’ unit. Regular literacy lessons and visits to the library complement learning across the curriculum throughout this key stage and help students to become independent, confident learners.
What will be studied in Year 8?
Texts in Year 8 include the novel ‘Ghost Boys’ by Jewell Parker Rhodes and a play with lots to discuss called ‘Our Day Out’ by Willy Russell. Poems from other cultures extend cultural awareness in this year group and extend our students’ awareness of the world. Gothic Horror writing and learning to speak and write persuasively in our ‘Express Yourself’ unit allow students to build up their ability to have an opinion and make an impact on others in their writing, speaking and listening. We round off the year with an introduction to Shakespeare including a focus on ‘Macbeth’. Regular literacy lessons and visits to the library complement learning across the curriculum throughout this key stage and help students to become independent, confident learners.
What will be studied in Year 9?
This year moves students towards GCSE and term 6 is spent starting to look at some of their exam texts. Prior to this, students will have enjoyed reading ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck and ‘A View from the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller both challenging texts that have previously been on the GCSE curriculum. They will have studied a number of poems and started learning to compare them. To complete the picture, Year 9 students will have written suspense stories and a range of non-fiction texts. Regular literacy lessons and visits to the library complement learning across the curriculum throughout this key stage and help students to become independent, confident learners.
The dual award will mean that students will be awarded a GCSE qualification for English Language as well as English Literature. The English Language course will involve students reading and analysing a range of more challenging non-fiction and fiction texts. Also, students will experience writing in a range of different styles and genres, such as creative writing, letters, articles and reviews. In addition to the written element, students will research and deliver a speech/presentation on a particular topic of interest. The English Literature course gives students the chance to read and respond in detail to classical and modern novels, plays and poetry from Britain and around the world, building on the texts studied at Key Stage 3. All students at GCSE will study the following Literature set texts:
Exam Board: Eduqas
Media Studies GCSE is a popular choice at Lydiard Park Academy, welcoming students of all academic abilities and enabling them to excel in analyses of media products, as well as in the creative element of producing their own coursework, which is worth 30% of the GCSE. We study a whole wealth of products: from movie trailers and magazines to music videos and online media. Successful students have the opportunity to progress on to A level Media Studies at Sixth Form, and even if they choose not to take the subject further, they learn how to be media-literate, enabling them to enjoy, analyse and challenge media messages – an essential and empowering tool in our media-saturated society.