English
About
OVERSEAS STUDENTS WILL FIND EAL DETAILS UNDER MODERN LANGUAGES
English Department
The Department’s overriding aim is to make the teaching and learning of English a stimulating and rewarding experience enabling all students to develop the capacity to express themselves with confidence and to enjoy reading literature. English is mainly taught in a block of four classrooms fitted with data projectors and the Department has an excellent stock of class readers to ensure students engage with high quality literature both past and present.
Key Stage 3 (Years 7 – 9)
The Department mirrors National Curriculum needs and requirements for Key Stage 3. We therefore develop the key skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing in a way that promotes increasing sophistication and technical accuracy from our students.
Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Students all take the Edexcel GCSE course for Language with the majority also taking English Literature. They study a range of literary and non-fiction texts, including at least one Shakespeare play, and learn how to speak and write with confidence and fluency in a variety of contexts.
Key Stage 5 (Sixth Form)
Students follow the AQA Specification B course at AS and A2. They currently study early modern literature including texts by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton and nineteenth-century works including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner , Wutheringring Heights and Frankenstein. The coursework components focus on the genres of dramatic tragedy and Gothic literature.
Outside the classroom, there are reading clubs, a flourishing debating society and regular author and theatre visits designed to generate excitement about the subject. The English and Art departments collaborate to produce an Arts Magazine promoting the creative work of students. The Department also organises a media based Newspaper Day for Year 9 students and a celebration of literature on World Book Day.