A leading boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 12-18 in Perthshire, Scotland
Information about recent trips and activities can be found in the English Department News
The importance of English cannot be overstated. The key to our success lies in shaping the critical thinking faculties of all our students and the high expectations that we have of all pupils regardless of their abilities. In short, we aim to foster in our department the life-long love of literature that our muddled world most needs through the accuracy and creativity that we strive to instil in our pupils. Each member of the department is highly skilled in delivering excellent teaching methods and classes that stir and motivate even the most reluctant of readers.
In addition to our classroom endeavours we also run a Debating Society, A Critical Thinking Group, The Essay Society, The Personal Reading Challenge, Prep School Writing and Debating competitions and many theatre trips to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee as well as our Lower Sixth trip to Stratford upon Avon. There are also opportunities to get involved with visiting theatre workshops.
We maintain close links with the library though our Personal Reading Challenge and we work closely with our Learning Support Department to fulfil all our pupil needs.
Below you will find the names and contacts of all our staff members and a year by year description of what we do.
| Year Group | Downloadable pdf |
|
Second Form |
2nd Form Syllabus |
|
Third Form |
3rd Form Syllabus |
|
GCSE (4th & 5th Forms) |
GCSE Syllabus |
|
AS & A2 (l6th & U6th) |
AS & A2 Syllabus |
The Second Form is an opportunity to provide a broad and "hands on" approach to English. The year sees the students tackling a range of texts from novels, poetry, drama and Shakespeare to non-fiction, media and internet sources. Entry to the Time Spelling Bee helps to make spelling a more active and engaging concern and the elements of good writing are reinforced through a range of written activities. There are chances to act, write creatively and learn through application and practice in a safe and welcoming environment. The year is assessed continuously and has two key examination dates in Michaelmas and Trinity.
"Science arose from poetry--when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German dramatist, novelist, poet, & scientist (1749 - 1832)
The aims of this year are broadly set at preparing students for the standards and style of work expected at GCSE. Therefore, the key areas of writing, reading and speaking and listening are assessed throughout the year through a range of challenging texts. Each student will study at least one novel, short stories, a Shakespeare play, complete a project on Shakespeare, study a wide range of poetry from Chaucer to Carol Ann Duffy and a selection of media and non-fiction texts. Students are examined for written work in the Michaelmas term where they will answer questions on unseen poetry and the studied novel and the end of year examination will be a two-paper exam assessing all area of the course. Throughout the year students will be expected to complete a coursework folder and a range of spoken activities.
Books are the carriers of civilisation. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Henry David Thoreau US Transcendentalist author (1817 - 1862)
[Poetry] is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake. Lord Byron English poet & satirist (1788 - 1824)
The new GCSE system sees new modules such as Shakespeare and Film, The Study of Spoken Language and the new Controlled Assessment where coursework is done in class under supervised conditions. We follow the OCR specification for Language and Literature with the option for students to follow the two-year English GCSE if this is deemed necessary. The two qualifications are divided into 60% coursework and 40% examinations for Language and 25% coursework and 75% for the examination.
All documents can be found on www.ocr.org.uk .
Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realise it's just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it. David Sedaris, Interview in Louisville Courier-Journal, June 5, 2005, American writer
At A Level we currently follow the OCR syllabus.
In the Lower Sixth each student will be required to compile a coursework folder of 3000 words. These two pieces focus on writing published after 1900 with one text coming from a post 1990 selection. The two pieces can look at any genre, prose, poetry or drama and each student will complete a close-analysis or re-creative task and one comparative study. The emphasis here is on how writers use language to shape meaning as well as understanding the importance of context. Texts to be studied this year include The Constant Gardener, The Informers, Brave New World, and a great many more.
For examined work the students will cover one novel and one batch of poetry. Novels to be discussed and explored are The Age of Innocence, Wuthering Heights and A Handful of Dust whilst we have opted to teach the work of Wilfred Owen, Robert Frost and Rossetti for the poetry paper.
The Upper Sixth year is a challenge with the Shakespeare paper and the comparative drama and poetry module. Here works such as The Duchess of Malfi and the poetry of John Donne will be studied in parallel and a question in the paper will focus on relationships and links between the texts. The coursework in this year's unit will focus on linked themes through three texts. One class is focussing on Justice in Literature through Crime and Punishment and Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol, whilst another is focussing on Feminist writings such as The Bloody Chamber, The World's Wife and The Handmaid's Tale.
Miss Tori Dryden BA
Dr John Byrom MA Oxon, PhD
Mrs Alison Haylock BEd, MA
Mr James Lugton BA
Mr Michael Watson BA, Head of Department
If you wish to contact us please do so through the Head of Department Mr Michael Watson on michaelwatson@glenalmondcollege.co.uk
All resources and specifications can be found through the Virtual Learning Environment under English (www.glenalmondvle.org.uk)
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