English

Hello and welcome to the English section of the website.  I do hope that you will find the following synopsis helpful and informative.

At Key Stages Three and Four, pupils are taught English in mixed ability tutor groups. In the area of speaking and listening, pupils are encouraged to speak fluently and appropriately in different contexts, adjusting their talk for a range of purposes and audiences.  Children will participate in group discussions, taking different roles in the organisation and planning of collaborative activities.         The small class sizes allow pupils to contribute to such tasks with a sense of confidence and enjoyment.

In the area of reading, pupils are taught and encouraged to extract meaning from a text beyond the literal, to compare texts and look at style, structure and form.  They are also enabled to understand the values and assumptions in a text and to appreciate the subject matter and language.  As well as a range of media texts, pupils will study poetry and prose works from a wide range of authors which will encourage pupils to develop a lasting love of literature.

Within the writing assessment objective, pupils will be taught to improve and sustain their writing in terms of form and technicality.  They will write to imagine, explore analyse and entertain.

At the end of Key Stage Three (Year 9); pupils will be thoroughly and rigorously prepared for the Standard Attainment Test in English.  As part of the preparation, a Shakespeare play (either "Macbeth" or "Much Ado About Nothing") will be studied.

In Years 10 and 11, pupils will follow the AQA Specification A syllabus for English and English Literature.  Coursework has a forty percent weighting in the English course and thirty in the Literature.  Coursework assignments will include a response to a Shakespeare play, a pre-1914 prose study and an analysis of a twentieth century play.  Pupils will also undertake a media studies task and produce a piece of original writing (examples of this include travel writing, short stories, poems or autobiographical writing).    For the terminal examinations, pupils will study a poetry anthology or a major literaray text and undertake reading and writing tasks.

Pupils continuing the subject to Advanced Level (Years 12 and 13) follow the O.C.R. syllabus for English Literature.  The course encourages pupils to read widely and critically, using critical concepts with understanding and flair.  At AS level there will be the opportunity for pupils to submit coursework on a selection of texts published after 1900 and an examination based on the study of major works written between 1800 and 1945.  At A2 level there will be an examination to include a study of a major Shakespeare text and another work of poetry or drama written before 1800.  The coursework element at A2 involves the wider study of a literary genre within historical, social and cultural contexts.

Within the English Department we run the following extra-curricular activities:  a "Book club", and budding librarians are always needed in order to help with the smooth running of the library.

Thank you for reading this brief description.  It isn't possible to convey all that is learned in English at The Park, but I do hope that I've given you a bit of an insight into the curriculum.

Jonathan Cooke BA (Hons)., P.G.C.E., ACP (M.Coll.P).
Head of English