What will I be learning about in Year 7?
In Year 7, you will be improving your writing, reading and speaking and listening skills. You will begin with a writing unit based on London, in which you will learn how to write imaginative poems, leaflets and a piece of travel writing for people visiting London. For all of these types of writing, you will learn how to vary your vocabulary, sentences and punctuation to make it suitable for the audience and purpose. Later in the year, you will learn how to write persuasively, and you will write persuasive speeches, letters and adverts.
You will read two novels in Year 7, and you will learn how to read between the lines and analyse language techniques as we read. This will lead to your very first essay based on characters in the book! You will take part in a variety of drama activities, discussions, debates and presentations to improve your speaking and listening skills. In literacy lessons, you will learn how to improve your spellings and grammar in a variety of fun ways, including playing literacy games on mini iPads and countdown as a whole class.
How will it be different from primary school?
You will be taking part in even more challenging English lessons for four hours a week, taught by English specialists. This means there will be more time for you to really develop your English skills and receive help from teachers who really know their subject. Within each hour long lesson, you will have very clear objectives to achieve by the end of the lesson, and there will be many varied activities to help you do this.
You will be working independently as well as in groups and pairs, and lessons will include the use of technology, drama activities and media resources to make them engaging and fun. For example, when you study the novel ‘Freak the Mighty’, you will be watching a film clip from ‘Lord of the Rings’ and doing some hot-seating to learn about quests before reading the book!
Who will my teachers be?
You will have one of the following teachers:
- Miss Victor
- Mr Savage
- Miss McCarthy
- Miss Fitzpatrick
- Miss Neagle
You can find out more about them in the ‘Who will my teachers be?’ section.
How will I be assessed?
At the beginning of Year 7, you will have a test so we can gain an idea of what your strengths in English are, and what we need to focus on.
At the end of every unit of work, every half term, you will have an assessment in either reading, writing or speaking & listening, which tests the skills you have learnt. These will be marked and you will receive a level for each one. You will then have some time to reflect on this and think about what you need to do to further your progress in the next one.
Towards the end of the year, you will sit a final exam in reading and writing, so we can see your overall progress for the year.
What can I do to help myself get off to an excellent start?
Try to read at home as much as possible, and read a range of genres. Really challenge yourself to read more difficult books and make sure you look up any words you’re not sure of in a dictionary. You will find out later about our English summer challenges too – look out for these, not only are they a great chance to get ready for English at the Archer Academy but you can begin to collect house points too!