English

The English language is wonderfully diverse and our principal aim is to teach pupils how to both read and write as well as how to communicate, be that through the written or spoken word.

As essential part of studying this subject is English literature itself, and various texts are studied from three literary genres: prose, poetry and drama.

English is taught throughout the School, with Years 7-11 receiving five periods a week, the Lower Sixth seven periods and the Upper Sixth eight periods.

We aim in the first three years to give a good grounding in the essentials of the subject, paying regard to style, punctuation and orthography; as well as reading novels, poems and plays; and performing a variety of other literary tasks. Of the two pieces of homework per week, one is always a substantial written piece.

GCSE

Year 10 sees the beginning of a two-year course towards the General Certificates of English and English Literature. We pursue an integrated approach, where the two subjects are taught together.

English
This consists of two papers, the first testing comprehension skills relating to media texts and non-fiction texts; the second testing comprehension and writing skills relating to other cultures, analytical and persuasive writing. In addition, candidates are required to submit five assignments, and to be assessed orally.

English Literature
This course requires the study of six texts, works of drama, poetry and prose, respectively pre-and post-1914. The candidate is examined on three of the above, and required to submit assignments on the other three.

6th Form

Years 12 and 13 
In the Lower Sixth, pupils begin the Advanced Subsidiary AQA English Literature course and complete the Advanced Level at the end of the Upper Sixth. The course is entirely modular, with candidates taking two ASS units, comprising 50 per cent of the course, at the end of the first year. At the end of the second year, a further two units are taken.

The members of the English Department each take charge of a different aspect of each module and work closely to cover the six set texts, and develop in the students the necessary literary and linguistic perspectives.

The Department is also actively involved with drama, staging drama evenings and taking students on theatre trips.