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YEAR 7 ENGLISH

Secure foundations.

Read accurately, build a rich vocabulary and write clear, controlled sentences. Explore stories, poems, drama and arguments.

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WEEKS 1–6

Reading with exactness

Secure gist, causal inference, relevant evidence and controlled sentences; establish an honest baseline.

Explore the weekly focus

Week 1 · What can the text actually tell us?

Read: Unseen 250-word narrative: written literal questions, a causal inference and a gist summary. A parent may optionally note ease/effort during brief private reading aloud; no recording, upload or live assessment is required.

Write: Independent 100–150-word account of an interrupted journey; retain the uncorrected first attempt.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: precise, infer, inference, sentence boundary

Week 2 · Fables: causes and consequences

Read: Read a short Aesop fable in a suitable retelling; distinguish an event from its cause and its consequence.

Write: Combine six sentence pairs using because, but and so; explain which causal relationship each version expresses.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: consequence, motive, clause, fable

Week 3 · When is an inference justified?

Read: Read a contrasting fable; compare two plausible character explanations using small pieces of evidence.

Write: Develop one claim with an embedded short quotation and an explanation; begin from a worked example on a different fable.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: plausible, justify, evidence, quotation

Week 4 · Word choices and shades of meaning

Read: Read an original encounter scene; compare verbs such as walked, trudged and strode in context, including what they cannot prove.

Write: Rewrite a six-sentence scene with deliberate verb choices; use one subordinate clause to clarify time or reason.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: reluctant, assertive, connotation, subordinate clause

Week 5 · From a model to my own explanation

Read: Read a new microstory with a decision; unpack a model explanation, then remove its sentence stems.

Write: Write a 120–150-word explanation of the decision; revise the weakest link between evidence and inference.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: hesitant, resolve, characterisation, paragraph

Week 6 · Independent check: character and choice

Read: Read an unseen fable or microstory on a fresh theme; answer gist, literal and inference questions without an immediate model.

Write: Write one independent explanation and an 80–100-word changed ending; proofread sentence boundaries.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: justify, consequence, inference, characterisation

WEEKS 7–12

Myths and purposeful storytelling

Build knowledge of myth, plot, narrator, setting and dialogue, then compose and revise a complete small narrative.

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Week 7 · Myths: desire, rule and consequence

Read: Read a self-contained retelling of Daedalus and Icarus, with a brief note on Greek myth and oral retelling.

Write: Create a five-step causal plot outline and a concise explanation of a character’s desire; model first, then transfer.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: ambition, restraint, myth, exposition

Week 8 · Narrator and character are different

Read: Compare first- and third-person retellings of one moment in the myth; distinguish what the narrator knows from what readers infer.

Write: Retell the moment in 120 words from a limited viewpoint, keeping pronouns and tense consistent.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: perspective, reveal, narrator, viewpoint

Week 9 · Setting that changes the action

Read: Read a short adventure opening, such as a selected Treasure Island passage with necessary plot gloss.

Write: Combine sentences with relative clauses, then write a 120-word setting in which a physical detail affects a decision.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: isolated, obstacle, setting, relative clause

Week 10 · Dialogue: what is said and withheld

Read: Read a short exchange in a children’s adventure or an original scene; infer a disagreement from speech and action.

Write: Write an eight-line exchange using accurate speech punctuation, paragraph changes and purposeful action beats.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: conceal, tension, dialogue, direct speech

Week 11 · Shape a complete short narrative

Read: Compare two brief endings to the same original opening; track which earlier detail makes an ending feel earned.

Write: Plan and draft a 180–230-word narrative with one decision and consequence; fade the plan to three prompts.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: credible, transform, climax, resolution

Week 12 · Independent check: a story with consequence

Read: Read an unseen short story and identify how its opening prepares the ending; no same-task worked model.

Write: Write a new 180–230-word story from a fresh decision prompt and annotate one independent revision.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: credible, perspective, viewpoint, resolution

WEEKS 13–18

Poetry: meaning, voice and pattern

Read for literal meaning before explaining images, phrasing, tone and a worthwhile comparison.

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Week 13 · Poems: first get the meaning

Read: Read a short nature poem, such as Rossetti’s Who Has Seen the Wind; attend to phrasing, literal situation and speaker.

Write: Paraphrase each stanza, then explain the distinction between the poet and the speaking voice in 80–100 words.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: perceive, observe, speaker, stanza

Week 14 · Images that carry an idea

Read: Read a compact poem with a sustained comparison, such as an age-appropriate selection from Blake’s Songs of Innocence.

Write: Explain one image’s literal and suggested meanings, then craft a four-line image of a place without adjective lists.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: delicate, suggest, metaphor, imagery

Week 15 · Sound and reading aloud

Read: Read a short rhythmic poem twice, changing phrasing; connect a sound pattern to movement, mood or emphasis where warranted.

Write: Write a 100-word explanation of one defensible sound effect; revise an unsupported claim about how every reader feels.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: rhythmic, emphasise, alliteration, rhythm

Week 16 · A change in a poem

Read: Read a short poem with a clear contrast or turn, such as Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush in carefully glossed sections.

Write: Write two connected paragraphs tracing the speaker’s changing response, using whereas or initially/later accurately.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: bleak, tentative, contrast, tone

Week 17 · Compare meanings before methods

Read: Read two very short poems about wind, rain or a tree; establish the distinct situations before making a comparison.

Write: Write a 150-word comparison organised around one shared idea, using carefully paired evidence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: similarity, distinction, comparison, imagery

Week 18 · Independent check: an unfamiliar poem

Read: Read an unseen short poem, answer a literal and an inference question, then compare one idea with a previously studied poem.

Write: Write 150–180 words independently; finish by revising one imprecise analytical verb.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: tentative, distinction, comparison, speaker

WEEKS 19–24

Shakespeare: authority and comic disorder

Encounter a play through short scenes, plot knowledge and justified performance choices, rather than isolated quotation drills.

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Week 19 · Shakespeare: a play is made for a stage

Read: Read a short A Midsummer Night’s Dream opening selection, with who/where/why and a brief Elizabethan theatre note.

Write: Paraphrase six important lines and write a 100-word explanation of what a director must make clear to an audience.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: authority, defy, stage direction, drama

Week 20 · Conflict: a rule and a refusal

Read: Read selected Hermia/Egeus/Theseus exchanges with essential context about imposed marriage and dramatic conflict.

Write: Explain how one character challenges another using a quotation embedded in two connected paragraphs.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: obedience, resistance, conflict, imperative

Week 21 · Comedy: who knows what?

Read: Read a manageable mistaken-identity or enchanted-love passage, with a diagram of who believes what.

Write: Explain an instance where the audience knows more than a character; write a six-line comic misunderstanding.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: confusion, absurd, dramatic irony, comedy

Week 22 · Words become performance choices

Read: Reread a short passage from the mechanics’ rehearsal; compare two written stage interpretations.

Write: Write a director’s paragraph explaining two line readings and one movement, tied closely to the language.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: earnest, exaggerate, prose, verse

Week 23 · A claim about the play

Read: Use a supplied plot outline and three brief studied passages to consider whether disorder teaches the characters anything.

Write: Build a short argument with a claim and two connected points; fade a worked plan on a different question.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: reconcile, consequence, theme, thesis

Week 24 · Independent check: Shakespeare on stage

Read: Read a fresh extract from the same play with neutral plot information; answer literal questions before interpreting.

Write: Write a 160–200-word explanation of conflict or comedy and one justified staging choice without a supplied essay frame.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: authority, reconcile, dramatic irony, theme

WEEKS 25–30

Arguments that deserve to persuade

Write for real audiences using sound reasons, honest evidence, fair objections and deliberate revision.

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Week 25 · Non-fiction: who wants what?

Read: Read two short announcements about a local library change; identify the audience, purpose and information each includes.

Write: Rewrite an informal request as a clear formal email with an accurate subject, opening, reasons and request.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: purpose, propose, audience, register

Week 26 · Reasons need evidence

Read: Read a compact evidence sheet about a playground or library proposal; distinguish data, anecdote and unsupported assertion.

Write: Write one reason-evidence-explanation paragraph and combine causal clauses without overstating what the evidence proves.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: relevant, reliable, claim, causal clause

Week 27 · A fair response to an objection

Read: Read a proposal and a reasonable objection; identify the strongest version of the opposing concern.

Write: Write a 150-word response using although/however and one concession without abandoning the main position.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: concede, practical, counterargument, concession

Week 28 · A speech that can be heard

Read: Read a short public appeal and note its core request; examine purposeful repetition and direct address in context.

Write: Draft a 150–180-word speech for a school audience, rehearse it aloud and cut one confusing sentence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: collective, urgent, direct address, repetition

Week 29 · Revise to persuade responsibly

Read: Compare a forceful but misleading model with a precise, fair version using the same evidence.

Write: Revise Week 28’s speech for order, evidence and clarity; then edit sentence boundaries and spelling separately.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: accurate, proportionate, revision, cohesion

Week 30 · Independent check: make a case

Read: Read an unseen mini-dossier on a familiar public-space issue and identify agreement and disagreement between sources.

Write: Write an independent 180–220-word letter or speech using the evidence and acknowledging an objection.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: reliable, concede, counterargument, register

WEEKS 31–36

Nineteenth-century voices and social worlds

Unpack demanding syntax; connect relevant social knowledge with narrator, character and criticism.

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Week 31 · A nineteenth-century social world

Read: Read a short Oliver Twist workhouse selection with a concise factual note on poverty and workhouses.

Write: Summarise the situation accurately, then explain how a detail positions the reader towards the child.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: deprivation, institution, context, narrator

Week 32 · Unpack a long sentence

Read: Reread a demanding paragraph from the selected nineteenth-century prose; track main clauses, additions and pronoun references.

Write: Recast two sentences without losing meaning, then combine short sentences into one controlled sentence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: elaborate, subordinate, main clause, syntax

Week 33 · Satire: noticing a mismatch

Read: Read a brief Dickens passage in which respectable language clashes with harsh treatment; identify the mismatch.

Write: Explain the difference between what an institution claims and what it does, using cautious analytical verbs.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: hypocrisy, respectable, satire, irony

Week 34 · A character under pressure

Read: Read an age-appropriate Jane Eyre opening or school-scene selection with the surrounding situation provided.

Write: Write 160 words comparing two possible readings of a character’s resistance; use relevant context sparingly.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: dignity, injustice, characterisation, perspective

Week 35 · Borrow a technique, not an author’s voice

Read: Compare how two studied extracts introduce an unequal encounter through detail, dialogue and sentence order.

Write: Draft a 180-word original encounter; revise the order of information and one sentence to control emphasis.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: vulnerable, indignant, emphasis, dialogue

Week 36 · Independent check: old language, clear thinking

Read: Read an unseen nineteenth-century extract with concise access glosses and neutral context; give a gist and evidence-based interpretation.

Write: Write a 170–210-word response and revise one clause-heavy sentence for clarity.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: hypocrisy, dignity, context, syntax

WEEKS 37–42

Journeys, belonging and individual voices

Compare perspectives across prose, poetry and retellings without treating individuals as representatives of whole cultures.

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Week 37 · Journey and belonging

Read: Read a short migration or travel narrative, such as a suitable Mary Seacole selection plus a factual Caribbean/British context note.

Write: Write a 100-word summary distinguishing the journey’s practical events from the writer’s judgments.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: belonging, encounter, autobiography, viewpoint

Week 38 · An individual voice

Read: Read a short poem of place or identity, such as McKay’s The Tropics in New York; secure the literal situation first.

Write: Explain how two connected images express a response to place; read the poem aloud with meaningful phrasing.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: longing, contrast, imagery, speaker

Week 39 · Retelling changes the emphasis

Read: Read two short retellings of a folktale from an identified tradition, using versions with known authorship or permissions.

Write: Compare which actions each version foregrounds; rewrite one paragraph to change emphasis while preserving events.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: tradition, adapt, emphasis, retelling

Week 40 · Language and a sense of self

Read: Read an appropriately licensed contemporary prose or poem selection in which a character shifts language or register.

Write: Explain one language choice in context, then write a short exchange for two audiences without caricaturing an accent.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: identity, adapt, register, dialogue

Week 41 · Connect an idea across genres

Read: Pair one studied prose extract and one poem about home; identify a precise shared concern and a meaningful difference.

Write: Write a 180-word comparison with two linked points, moving between texts rather than writing two disconnected summaries.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: displacement, attachment, comparison, cohesion

Week 42 · Independent check: voices and belonging

Read: Read a fresh short text of place or belonging and compare it with a studied text; include a brief neutral context note if needed.

Write: Write an independent 180–220-word comparison and identify the next skill to practise from the evidence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: belonging, displacement, comparison, viewpoint

WEEKS 43–48

Comparing, questioning and making a case

Evaluate what sources support and create coherent analytical and viewpoint writing.

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Week 43 · Two accounts of one event

Read: Read two original accounts of a small community event; separate agreed facts from the writers’ attitudes.

Write: Write a concise neutral summary, then explain one difference in emphasis with paired evidence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: objective, emphasis, summary, perspective

Week 44 · What does the source allow us to claim?

Read: Read a short article with a date, author and evidence note; inspect the gap between its headline and its actual findings.

Write: Rewrite the headline accurately and write a 120-word explanation of the change using cautious verbs.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: verify, qualify, source, reporting verb

Week 45 · A longer argument: order the reasons

Read: Read a model article organised by connected reasons rather than a device checklist; reconstruct its paragraph logic.

Write: Plan an article on a supplied issue and draft two linked paragraphs; use reference words to connect ideas.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: sequence, coherent, topic sentence, cohesion

Week 46 · Make explanation economical

Read: Compare a wordy analytical paragraph with a precise version; identify where repetition obscures the reasoning.

Write: Revise an earlier prose or poetry response to 160 words without removing its evidence or explanation.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: concise, redundant, analytical verb, quotation

Week 47 · Choose and defend an interpretation

Read: Read an unfamiliar microstory; compare two supplied interpretations against details from beginning, middle and end.

Write: Write a 180-word argument for a reading, acknowledging the strongest counter-evidence; remove the planning frame before drafting.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: convincing, ambiguity, interpretation, counterargument

Week 48 · Independent check: read, compare, argue

Read: Read an unseen pair of short non-fiction texts on a new issue; identify a meaningful difference in stance.

Write: Produce a 120-word comparison and a short evidence-based response for a stated audience.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: qualify, coherent, perspective, cohesion

WEEKS 49–52

Independent transfer and next steps

Collect cold reading and writing evidence, improve one priority and transfer the improvement to a fresh task.

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Week 49 · Independent reading across forms

Read: Choose one unseen poem and one brief prose extract of matched challenge; establish meaning and trace an important change.

Write: Write an independent 180–220-word response to one text, then explain why the second needs a different reading approach.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: interpret, transition, speaker, structure

Week 50 · Independent writing for a real reader

Read: Read a brief audience-and-purpose brief with either an original narrative opening or a small factual dossier.

Write: Plan, draft and independently revise a 220–260-word narrative or viewpoint piece, applying two personal targets.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: purposeful, controlled, revision, register

Week 51 · Use feedback, then transfer it

Read: Compare the Week 49–50 attempts with your tutor’s prioritised feedback; identify the cause of one repeated weakness.

Write: Revise a selected passage, then write a fresh 100-word paragraph that applies the same improvement without copying.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: evaluate, transfer, self-assessment, cohesion

Week 52 · Year 7 exit profile and Year 8 bridge

Read: Read a fresh text comparable in challenge to the entry check; repeat gist, literal, inference and optional read-aloud observations.

Write: Write a short cold response and a new 120-word composition; set two evidenced priorities for the next sequence.

Vocabulary to use and revisit: justify, precise, inference, sentence boundary

Your child’s starting point

Week 1 uses a fresh short text, a brief optional read-aloud observation, literal/causal-inference questions, a summary and independent writing. Record whether work was independent, scaffolded or orally supported; distinguish access arrangements from instructional prompting. Observe accuracy, hesitations and meaningful phrasing without assigning a reading age or imposing a single speed threshold. If word reading persistently prevents comprehension, discuss suitable assessment/support with the parent and school/SENCO; provide shorter age-respectful texts and supported re-reading meanwhile. A one-hour pack is not a substitute for specialist intervention. The written baseline is the core check. Any read-aloud observation is an optional parent note on ease/effort during private home practice; no child voice recording, upload, live observation or formal fluency assessment is required or promised.

Support and stretch tasks replace part of the standard work. Plan for around 60 minutes of learning and practice, then 15–30 minutes to read and act on the feedback. Additional activities and wider reading are optional. The map guides teaching; feedback and, at GCSE, the confirmed exam specification determine the immediate priorities.

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