When I first started teaching, there seemed to be an expectation sold to me on my PGCE that all schools would have complete, intact, schemes of work which would provide you with instant lesson plans and many many resources. In reality, this was not the case. In reality, I am glad this was not the case. In reality, pre-packed schemes of work are not much use to the kids we teach.
English is a skill subject. This means that, while there are certain things you must cover, your job as a teacher is to improve the level of skill of your pupils. Take a class, any class. You know the kids in there. You know their needs and strengths, their levels and achievements. You know, because you have assessed them, what they need to know.
A one-size-fits-all scheme of work is not going to fit these pupils. Ready-written schemes of work, in all honesty, make us lazy teachers, and stop us teaching to the needs of your kids.
What I have found does work, however, is a kind of medium term plan, with adaptable ideas, and hopefully, eventually, a bank of adaptable resources.
Say you have your topic, e.g. Gothic Horror. You know which skills you need to focus on. You know what the assessments will be for that unit. A scheme of work typically lasts 6 weeks. Using your assessment focii, your knowledge of your pupils and your knowledge of the topic, the best thing to do is to put together a list, preferably ordered, of your ideas for teaching that unit.
A list has so many advantages over a sequence of lesson-by-lesson plans. It allows for creativity, for adaptability, and most importantly, allows you to teach to the needs of your class.
So, less of the one-size-fits-all; more of the lists!
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