English

"What we become depends on what we read…the greatest university of all is a collection of books."

All resources and specifications can be found through the VLE under English.

Welcome to the English Department at Glenalmond College. We hope that you enjoy reading this page and finding out what goes on both in and out of class.

The importance of English and Literature as an academic study cannot be overstated we see English at the very heart of all learning and aim to instil the importance of accurate writing, speaking, listening, reading and thinking. In a world where the current trend seems to be towards the lowest common denominator and the great dread of "dumbing-down" bears heavily upon us, we see ourselves as guardians holding the "wolf at the door" through the high standards that we expect of all our pupils regardless of ability. Each member of the department is highly skilled in delivering excellent classes that stir and motivate even the most reluctant of readers. We all have our own areas of expertise from Medieval Literature to up-to-the-minute novels and aim to work to our strengths in teaching a wide range of texts in a forward-thinking department with one eye on our great literary traditions.

The key to our success lies in shaping the critical thinking faculties of all our students and the wide range of teaching methods that we adopt. All this should benefit each student in the wider world even if they are foolish enough not to read English at university! In short, we aim to foster in our department the life-long love of literature that our muddled world most needs.

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.

Staff:

"And Gladly Wolde He Lerne and Gladly Teche".

Mr James Forshaw BA, PGCE

Dr John Byrom MA Oxon, PhD

Mrs Alison Haylock MA, BEd (Hons), Dip TEFL

Mr Charlie Youlten BA, PGCE

Mr Michael Watson BA, PGCE Head of Department

Mrs Pauline Gower MA Oxon, BSc (Psych), Dip SpLD Educational Support

Mrs Elaine Mundhill MA, Dip Lib MCILIP, Cert TM, TESOL Librarian

Junior Entry

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 principal aims of this year are broadly set at introducing the style of study expected at Glenalmond and of giving pupils confidence in the key areas of reading, writing and speaking. Throughout the year students will read from a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts including poetry, prose and drama. Through an end of term examination pupils will consolidate their knowledge of the English language as well as having written in a wide variety of contexts. By the end of the year they will be widely read - helped in no small way by close links to the library - and confident, experienced writers and speakers. Educational support for those with learning or linguistic requirements is always on hand through our superb Educational Support Department.

Third Form

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)

The Third Form is a crucial year in that it bridges the gap from Prep School or Junior Entry to the heady world of GCSE English and English Literature. To that end this year is devoted to preparing students for the demands and skills needed to succeed in this area. Therefore, students will continue to read widely but more is expected of them in terms of writing. Included in this year's study is the reading of a complete Shakespeare play as well as poetry, prose, drama and non-fiction.

In this year students will be continually assessed at each half-term and will compile a coursework folder in addition to the end of year examination. All this valuable information will allow us to accurately set our students in the GCSE year. In terms of content, the Third Form curriculum runs like a compressed GCSE course and all skills and reading approaches, as well as writing, speaking and listening skills, will be taught and developed. We believe that the road to A and A* starts here in the Third Form and our lessons embrace the principles of Assessment for Learning to enable the student to enjoy the subject and their work and to have confidence in their own judgements.

GCSE

[Poetry] is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake.

Lord Byron
English poet & satirist (1788 - 1824)

The GCSE has attracted some unfortunate flak of late and we believe this to be unfair. English, at least, is still a demanding and challenging subject where, thankfully, the onus is on the students to develop critical thought and writing. As a result, on a national level, it remains one of the most difficult subjects in which to achieve the golden A*. However, at Glenalmond we have a good reputation for pushing our best students to attain this dizzy height and also in raising the enthusiasm and love for literature that prompts many students to opt for Literature at A-Level and beyond.

We currently study the AQA syllabus, specification B which offers a broad range of fiction and non-fiction and a variety of opportunities for teaching.

The course is structured around two GCSE grades: one for English Language and one for English Literature. There is a substantial coursework requirement of five essays and three oral pieces. In English the division of coursework to exam work is 40/60% whilst in Literature it is 30/70%. So we strive to ensure that our students are familiar with the written requirements so that they can proceed to the examinations with confidence and "money in the bank".

Over the two year course students can expect to study Shakespeare, a number of novels, a wide range of non-fiction texts including media and a mind-boggling plethora of poetry. The course will be finally assessed by three examinations (two for English and one for Literature). All details, assessment material and examiner feedback can be found on the AQA website (http://www.aqa.org.uk/)

AS and A2 Level

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.

We have a good track record of spurring students on to study Literature at university with Pim Hannay starting at Oxford this year and Tom Dickson starting at Newcastle to name but two.

If you wish to contact us please do so through the Head of Department Mr Michael Watson on michaelwatson@glenalmondcollege.co.uk