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| INTRODUCTION In English we only demand one thing and that is to give a good effort. We work hard and we expect the same commitment from those we teach. Pupils naturally have varied interests, skills and abilities. We endeavour to draw upon these to develop their reading, writing, spelling talking and appreciation of the written word, whilst developing their general knowledge and having some fun. ACCOMMODATION Three adjacent rooms, three enthusiastic teachers and excellent resources mean that our aim of helping a pupil to achieve the best GCSE and “A” Level results they can are generally met. One of the nicest aspects of the department is the cooperation and willingness seen in the pupils with lots of hands up, lots of praise for trying and lots of step by step success. STAFFING Mr D Bradley MA Salford Head of Department Mrs F Entwistle BA Liverpool Mrs G Piatkiewicz BEd Manchester Metropolitan CURRICULUM The four lessons (three hours twenty minutes) each class enjoys each week are filled with a mixture of class readers, library, essays, comprehensions, spelling, grammar, discussions and good sound basics. Two homeworks per week add an extra hour or more to build on and revise these skills. Junior School Variety is the key word to our lower KS3 curriculum. We know many pupils aren’t great readers in their spare time but that books are the key to success - and not just in English. Class readers read aloud around the class, are chosen for their good stories, human interest, social comment, and even for their historical perspective. Titles in the lower school include Year 7 Hoot, Kite, The Otterbury Incident, Boy, Kingdom by the Sea. Year 8 Private Peaceful, Going Solo, The Hobbit, The Runaways, The Dark is Rising. Year 9 The Machine Gunners, Buddy, Walkabout, Old Mali and the Boy, Brother in the Land, The Guardians, Animal Farm. Half an hour in the Library each week allows a chance to change books and settle to peaceful enjoyment, while individuals read aloud to their teacher. While the term by term curriculum is based loosely on a variety of language books, flexibility has always been the key to our good quality lessons. Our excellent range of text books and printed sheets allows us to develop popular topics and divert to areas of interest that arise. Our syllabuses are clear about what must be covered in any year but of equal importance is the need to develop our pupils’ interests and enjoyment. Essay skills, how to write for different audiences and with different purposes, reading and understanding and how to draw key facts from passages are central life skills. We recognise that pupils are individuals and aim to fulfil their individual needs, whether that is help with basic punctuation control or developing stylistic techniques needed for top grades. We expect parents to involve themselves with homework so that problems are identified and solved and welcome contact about worries, difficulties and even for a chat. EXAMINATIONS Key Stage 4 Year Ten and Eleven build on the established foundation and are filled with reading, writing, coursework (oh no!) examination practice, discussions, presentations and lots of individual support. Everyone takes AQA English and English Literature, with our A*-C pass rate varying between 80% and 90% in both subjects. The groups are streamed by ability so that the teaching and the texts for study are the most effective for the individuals. We do six pieces of coursework: a story, a Shakespeare play, a post 1914 novel, a pre 1914 novel or short stories, a post 1914 play and a media piece. While the preparation, planning and writing of these is well structured we offer individual help to those who are struggling on individual assignments. All coursework has to be completed by November 30th of Year 11. AS/A2 Level It might seem strange to use the Welsh Board for our “A” Level English Literature course but we think the range of texts and tasks are the most appropriate and enjoyable. We take six examinations rather than doing coursework. Our pass rate has been 100% for many years with a good number of higher grades. Current texts include Regeneration, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1984, King Lear, Dr Faustus, Emma and Heaney’s Party. The course isn’t easy but everyone seems to enjoy the work, the teaching, the atmosphere and the eventual success. |
