The English department aims to create effective and confident communicators both orally and in the written form.
We seek to offer a diverse and interesting curriculum which includes studying a range of text types and genres, both old and modern, with the aim of piquing the students’ interest. We further try to enhance their experience with trips out to places like the RSC, The Swan Theatre in Worcester and the Malvern Theatre. We are also able to take our Functional Skills group to the Avoncroft Open Air Museum.
We aim to engender a love of literature in the students by developing imaginative and creative writing skills.
The challenge in meeting the needs of students with vision impairment include:
- Accessing texts in appropriate format
- Developing group discussion skills when visual feedback is not available
- A lack of wider knowledge of the world which is often gleaned through sight
Examples of adaptations for vision impaired students
A number of adjustments are made to our teaching to meet the needs of our students with vision impairment:
- Small groups enable more personalised learning
- Text formats – braille, electronic, large print – this extends to examination material whereby we work closely with exam boards to get the correct format for each individual student
- Drama activities to aid collaboration and understanding – we collaborate closely with the Drama department to access a range of approaches
- Use of dioramas, swell illustrations and artefacts to provide a more three dimensional experience and aid understanding
- A large bank of audio books and podcasts to support learning
- Using Audacity to create our own podcasts of stories, plays, speeches etc.
- Theatre trips (in conjunction with Drama), where possible we go to audio described performances with touch tours and if not, then we are able to provide our own audio description using our own equipment
Key Stage 3
Years 7, 8 and 9 follow a course of study that is aimed to develop the skills and enjoyment necessary for a lifelong love of reading, communicating and thinking.
This means they will study Shakespeare, poetry (from Chaucer to the modern day), fiction and non-fiction texts, presentation skills, writing for different audiences and purpose as well as a participating in a Spelling Bee, Radio 2’s “500 Words” and Poetry by Heart.
We aim to make English fun!
To read about the English Curriculum intent, please click the button below:
Courses
A-Level
- OCR GCE English Literature
GCSE
- Years 10/11 – AQA GCSE English Language and AQA GCSE English Literature
Entry Level
- AQA Step Up to English
- Pearson Levels 1 and 2 Functional Skills
Head of Department:
