We promote learning environments where students discuss and explore issues in texts in a calm, serious and controlled manner where all feel safe to express their view and opinions.  We appreciate and empathise with others’ viewpoints in the classroom and in the texts we study and we explore how writers present respect and dignity through their language, plots and characters. We discover how dignity and respect can be gained and lost through language use and how issues from a range of contexts and cultures can deepen pupils’ understanding of the world around them.

We seek to develop pupils’ curiosity in literary exploration by evaluating and judging characters, themes, language and writers’ intentions, aiming to build knowledge of how language works grammatically and in a range of contexts to suit form, purpose and audience. We build a bank of literary and linguistic terminology to enable students to analyse texts effectively and empower them by expanding their vocabulary. We also build knowledge of important genres and historical contexts that influence the production and reception of the texts we read.

We teach pupils the key skills necessary to read, comprehend, analyse, evaluate and compare texts successfully across the curriculum. We see how these skills can be applied in real life contexts and careers. We also build writing and oracy skills that enable students to confidently express themselves whist promoting a collaborative working environment where both group and independent work are valued and fostered.

We believe that our curriculum provides pupils with life-long communication skills that will benefit them throughout the whole school and in later life. We seek to find opportunities to show the relevance of their learning to future pathways and links to other subjects. We encourage pupils to set goals which will stretch and challenge them. We encourage students to approach the learning of new and varied texts with curiosity and an enquiring mind. We encourage them to explore unfamiliar situations, ideas, perspectives and challenges that are faced by characters and writers in fiction and non-fiction texts and consider how language and literature can impact their lives and the world around them.