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English · KS3 to A Level · £6.99

Articulate Writers,
Confident Schools

Secondary English department handbook — KS3 to A Level

One book for the whole department: the head of English who has to lead it and the teacher who has to teach period four. Built on what AQA, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge OCR and Eduqas actually require, read from all eighteen current specifications.

£6.99The whole playbook, 74 pages

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One purchase covers the school that buys it. Print it, copy it, hand it round your department. Not for passing to other schools or uploading anywhere.

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Read before publication by the serving head of that department and by senior leaders, in school.

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Schools that have bought from Empower Educators include Nottingham High School, Northampton High School GDST and Sutton Valence School.

Everything else this site has for English: English teaching resources

  1. 1 Curriculum
  2. 2 Reading
  3. 3 Writing
  4. 4 Evidence
  5. 5 Standard
Cover of Articulate Writers, Confident Schools

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English is two qualifications taught by one department, and they are not the same subject. Language and Literature are examined differently, weighted differently and lost differently. A scheme of work that treats them as one thing quietly costs marks in both.

This booklet is written for the whole department at once. A head of English can read it as a curriculum and quality-assurance document; a teacher can open it at the page they need on a Monday. All eighteen current specifications were read in full rather than summarised, and where the boards differ — and they differ more than most departments assume — the difference is stated rather than blended away.

Written to
All eighteen current AQA, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge OCR and Eduqas specifications
Intended for
heads of English, subject leaders and every teacher in the department
Extent
74 pages · 71 sections

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Contents

All 71 sections

Taken from the book’s own contents page, so the page numbers are the real ones.

THE CASE

01 Two Subjects, One Department p3
02 Where English Departments Drift p4

THE THEORY

03 How Reading Actually Develops p5
04 How Writing Actually Develops p6

THE PRACTICE

05 Pillar 1 — Curriculum: The Spine p7
06 Pillar 2 — Reading: Taught, Not Set p8
07 Pillar 3 — Writing: Modelled, Not Assigned p9
08 Pillar 4 — Recall: Closed Book by Design p10
09 Pillar 5 — Standard: Knowing What Good Looks Like p11
10 How a Skill Actually Progresses p12
11 What Should a Year 7 Actually Arrive Knowing? p13
12 KS3: Three Years, Not a Waiting Room p14

TEACHING LITERATURE

13 Close Reading: What Does It Say → What Else Could It Mean p15
14 Teaching Poetry Without Killing It p16
15 Teaching Shakespeare as Drama, Not as Difficulty p17
16 Teaching the Novel: Whole Text First p18
17 Teaching Drama and Modern Texts p19

TEACHING WRITING

18 Grammar as a Tool for Meaning p20
19 Vocabulary: Taught, Not Caught p21
20 From PEE to Argument p22
21 Feedback That Changes Writing p23
22 The Analysis Chain p24

ORACY

23 Oracy: Talk That Earns Its Place p25

QUESTIONING & MODELLING

24 Questioning: Seven Levels p26
25 Modelling: I Do, We Do, You Do p27
26 Where English Marks Are Actually Lost p28

THE OUTSTANDING LESSON

27 What Makes an Outstanding English Lesson? p29
28 The Observer’s Lens p30
29 Six Lesson Architectures p31

SHOW, DON’T TELL

30 One Extract, Four Answers p32
31 The Analytical Paragraph, Four Ways p33
32 Creative Writing, Four Ways p34
33 The Literature Essay, Four Ways p35
34 Transactional Writing, Four Ways p36
35 A Level Critical Writing, Four Ways p37

ASSESSMENT

36 What the AOs Look Like in Real Work p38
37 Exam Preparation Without Destroying English p39

EVERY STUDENT

38 SEND and EAL in English, Specifically p40
39 Intervention That Is Worth the Time p41

THE FOUR BOARDS

40 GCSE English Language, Compared p42
41 GCSE English Literature, Compared p43
42 AQA p44
43 Pearson Edexcel p45
44 Cambridge OCR p46
45 WJEC Eduqas p47

A LEVEL

46 A Level English Literature, Compared p48
47 GCSE to A Level: The Handover p49
48 A Level English Language, Compared p50

CULTURE

49 Reading Culture Without Gimmicks p51
50 Choosing Texts: A Defensible List p52
51 AI and English p53
52 The English Classroom p54
53 Where English Leads p55

FOR LEADERS

54 The Head of English p56
55 The English Department Meeting p57
56 Quality Assurance Without Fear p58
57 Teacher Development in English p59
58 The Marking Load p60
59 Ofsted and the English Department p61

THE TOOLKIT

60 Template 1 — Department Self-Audit p62
61 Templates 2–4 — Curriculum, Reading and Writing Maps p63
62 Templates 5–7 — Trackers and Student Work Review p64
63 Templates 8–10 — Moderation, Intervention and Observation p65
64 Templates 11–13 — Vocabulary, Oracy and A Level p66
65 Templates 14–16 — Intervention and Progress p67
66 Templates 17–19 — Meetings, Compliance and Mock Analysis p68
67 Templates 20–21 — For Students p69

CLOSING

68 One Book, One Department, One Standard p70
69 References and Evidence Base p71
70 Exam Board Source Bank p72
71 The Teacher’s Page — English p73
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