All students joining Tor School will have a baseline assessment. This will guide us to meet the individual student’s needs.

Key Stage 3

Our intent for students in KS3 is to help re-engage them with the English Curriculum, promote a joy of reading, encourage them to develop their speaking and listening skills and plug and develop gaps in their written work so they are confident in their return to another school and able to access another new SOW. Our plan is to ensure they can make progress whilst at Tor School and beyond.

We will offer a variety of SOW linked to the National Curriculum that will suits the needs and interests of a wide range of learners and these SOW can be further differentiated to engage the student fully. Each SOW will cover: Reading; Writing; Speaking and Listening; and SPaG.

Key Stage 4

There are a range of courses taught in order to meet an individual student’s needs:

Edexcel Entry Level and Functional Skills Level 1

Functional Skills qualifications provide reliable evidence of a learner’s achievements against demanding content that is relevant to the workplace.

They provide a foundation for progression to employment and further technical education, and help learners develop skills for everyday life.

The Pearson Edexcel Functional Skills qualifications in English at Entry levels 1, 2 and 3 are for learners to develop understanding and skills in English.

The qualifications gives learners the opportunity to:

demonstrate the ability at an appropriate level to read, write, speak, listen and communicate in English

apply this knowledge and these skills in familiar situations

achieve a foundation for further study at Level 1 or GCSE

Students joining us in September will sit an Entry Level exam in November to secure them a qualification and boost their confidence before going on to study for their Level 1 qualification or GCSE.

Each Level is assessed through three units:

Unit 1 – Speaking, Listening and Communication

Unit 2 – Reading

Unit 3 – Writing

Each unit is examined separately when the student is ready to sit the paper. The Functional Skills reading and writing units can be taken online.

For each Unit you achieve a Pass or Fail. If you do not get a Pass then you can retake the Unit. Once all three Units have been passed then CONGRATULATIONS you have achieved that level!

The Units are equally weighted and each one contributes one third to the overall level.

AQA GCSE English (8700)

Our goal is to inspire and motivate students, providing appropriate stretch and challenge whilst ensuring, as far as possible, that the assessment and texts are accessible to the full range of students. The specification will enable students of all abilities to develop the skills they need to read, understand and analyse a wide range of different texts covering the 19th, 20th and 21st century time periods as well as to write clearly, coherently and accurately using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures.

The GCSE will equip students with essential life-skills and the best progression route to future employment.

This specification is ideal for those who want to explore a range of literary and language.

Suitable for all abilities, students are expected to:

investigate and analyse language

experiment and use language creatively

engage in a range of speaking and listening activities.

Exam

The exam consists of two written papers each lasting for 1hour 45mins, which tests reading comprehension and writing skills. A speaking and listening assessment is also required.