The English department is headed by Miss G.S. Lee and includes five full time members of staff representing a wide range of ages, backgrounds and teaching experience. The Headmaster, who has a doctorate in English, also teaches one set in the department.
The department is housed in five classrooms in the Red Lion Block at the centre of the school, adjacent to the Drama Studio and the Blake Theatre. All classrooms have computers with DVD facilities and digital projectors. The English department enjoys a close relationship with the School Library, and co-administers the School Reading Programme with the School Librarian. The Library is located near the department and is well-stocked with fiction, poetry, drama and a range of reference texts. The School’s ICT facilities are also close to the department, and offer students high-speed internet access and a range of current computer software.
Teachers in the English Department support a wide range of student activities, including supervising student contributions to the School’s weekly newspaper (The Lion), Debating and Public Speaking, excursions to the theatre and cinema, and a range of field trips. Recent English Department excursions include trips to Stratford, Cardiff, Malvern, Bristol, Dublin and Tuscany.
Programme Rationale
The study of English Language and Literature directly develops key skills sought by employers in a wide range of professions: the ability to read texts and situations critically and analytically, the capacity to reflect upon what one has read and to make informed and considered choices, and the facility to communicate one’s point of view clearly and convincingly (whether verbally or in writing). Moreover, these skills are not only essential for professional success—they are vital for making the choices that will lead to a life of sustainable personal well-being in a rapidly changing world. Pursuing studies in English also readies students for citizenship in the global community. An understanding of how literature and language works, as art and as communication, is crucial for living a life in which one is critically engaged with one’s culture; with the questions and issues of the day and also with the eternal questions, the ongoing concerns of human civilization.
Key Stage Three Programme
Through Years 7 to 9, students pursue a continuous programme in English to develop their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. The overall aim of the Key Stage 3 curriculum is to prepare students to begin with confidence the WJEC GCSE programme in both English and English Literature at the beginning of Year 10.
In each year of the Key Stage 3 programme, students make use of a wide range of texts to develop their reading skills. These may include fiction from well known writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert Swindells, Kevin Crossley-Holland and George Orwell; non-fiction and media texts such as newspaper and magazine articles, reviews, letters and film or television clips; poetry from collections such as Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes’ The Rattle Bag; and a Shakespeare play in each year of the programme.
To develop their writing skills, students explore a variety of forms and genres. Moreover, as they progress through the Key Stage 3 programme, they learn to adapt their writing increasingly to different purposes and different audiences. In Year 7, they concentrate largely on imaginative writing, including short stories, poetry, diary entries and letters. In Year 8, they increase their repertoire to include more formal reviews, reports and analyses. In Year 9, they concentrate more particularly on writing analytical essays, which will help prepare them for success in the GCSE programme.
Students work to develop their speaking and listening skills throughout the Key Stage 3 programme by participating in several types of learning activities. Year 7, these may include reading passages aloud, participating in small group discussions, listening to talks or broadcasts, and performing in role. In Year 8, they explore more complex speaking and listening tasks, including individual speeches and presentations, choral reading, and drama-focused activities. In Year 9, they concentrate on making more formal, text-based presentations and seminars and performing script-based drama scenes.
In addition, throughout the programme, students continue to develop their research skills using the library and the internet, and their ICT skills, including word-processing, publishing and power-point presentations.