A common theme across year 9 is the depiction of discrimination and/or oppression. Due to this engaging but challenging subject matter, there are scenes which include sensitive content around race and sex, which we particularly wanted students, parents and carers to be aware of in advance. Teachers are given sufficient training and support on talking with students about these topics as they arise in the text, and therefore will be as sensitive as possible. Teachers will discuss with students why the writers have chosen to include this and set clear boundaries for how it should be approached.
In Tutor Time…
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States. This novella preaches the dangers of believing in dreams, specifically in the American Dream, while teaching us the value of friendship and companionship.
Anita and Me by Meera Syal
Meera Syal’s novel Anita and Me is set in the fictional English village of Tollington in the 1970s. It follows the life of nine-year-old Meena Kumar, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as she attempts to define her personal identity, marked by her Indian background and the small-town, English society in which she grows up.
In English…
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit – which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester.
Small Island by Andrea Levy adapted by Helen Edmundson
A compelling play (adapted from a novel) about two Windrush immigrants, Gilbert and Hortense, living and surviving in Britain. In Britain, they are faced with people who can barely understand and accept them such as the characters Queenie, Bernard and – it seems – the whole of England. The novel handles sensitive issues of racial discrimination and violence while at the same time finding levity and hope in small moments of connection and luck.
