As an all ability College we offer our students a range of qualifications at Key Stage 4 level.

All of our students leave us with a qualification that will allow them to pursue post 16 education, or the world of work.

100% of Blackwater students who undertake GCSE English qualifications achieve A* - G grades.

In 2011 48.3% of pupils achieved A*-C in English Language, while 68.4% achieved A*-C grades in Literature.

Key Stage 4 Qualifications

-       Essential Skills Literacy and Communication

-       GCSE English Language

-       GCSE English Literature

GCSE Language & Literature

At GCSE our students have the opportunity to study both Language and Literature.  We follow the CCEA course.

English Language Course

The CCEA GCSE English Language Specification is designed to be compatible with CCEA GCSE English Literature.

GCSE English Language is a unitised specification, with four assessed units.

Externally Assessed Components

Unit 1: 1 hour 30 min examination [20%]
Section A: Writing - Personal writing
Section B: Reading - Multi-modal texts (comparison/cross reference)

Unit 2: 1 hour 30 min examination [20%]
Section A: Writing - Discursive (one side of an issue)
Section B: Reading - Non-fiction (1 stimulus)

Examinations are available in Higher and Foundation Tier.

Controlled Assessment

Unit 3: Speaking and Listening [20%]
3 tasks:

• Individual presentation
• Group interaction
• Role play

Unit 4: [40%]

3 tasks:
4.1 The Study of Spoken Language
4.2 The Study of a Literary Text
4.2 Creative writing

English Literature Course

Revised GCSE English Literature is a unitised specification with three assessed units.

Externally Assessed Components

Unit 1: The Study of Prose
1 hour examination (closed book)

Unit 2: The Study of Drama and Poetry
2 hour examination
Section A: The Study of Drama (open book)
Section B: The Study of Poetry – response to CCEA anthology (open book)
Section C: Response to an Unseen Poetry

Examinations are available in Higher and Foundation Tier

Controlled Assessment

Unit 3: The Study of Linked Texts
2 part task in response to a Shakespeare play and a heritage prose text

A Costume Drama - The Tempest:

The play opens on board a ship that is being battered by a storm. The ship's crew are hard at work trying to stop the ship from sinking.

Some passengers go up on deck.

• 
  Alonso, the King of Naples
  Sebastian, Alonso's brother
  Antonio, brother of Prospero (a magician, who appears later)
  Ferdinand, Alonso's son
  Gonzalo, a servant of Alonso

They think they are going to drown.

The action moves to an island near where the ship is in trouble. Prospero, a magician, and his daughter Miranda, are living on the island with two others. One is Ariel (a sprite, or elf-like character) - who'd once been kept in a tree by an evil witch, Sycorax. Prospero had released him from the tree with his magic. The other is Caliban (big and nasty, the son of Sycorax) - who Prospero had been kind to. Both Ariel and Caliban are Prospero's servants.

Some Year 9 English classes tried to recreate some of the costumes using newspapers. Their efforts can be seen in this collage of photos;

Mini Sagas - Tell a good story in 50 words or less!

Some of their Mini Sagas follow