Senior School
English

At Key Stages 3 and 4, our Scheme of Work covers the National Curriculum for English and we give additional emphasis to the teaching of Literature and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. At the end of Years 7, 8 and 9 our internal examinations shadow the Optional tests and the KS3 English tests. At the end of Year 9 (the end of Key Stage 3), we expect students to achieve at least the equivalent of Level 5 and most of our students perform better than that. To encourage individual reading we provide reading lists, which include contemporary literature, for each Year Group. We run a Reading Award Scheme for our Year 7 pupils and we also participate annually in the charitable ‘Readathon’ event.
 
At Key Stage 4 we prepare pupils for the GCSEs in English and English Literature and all our candidates are entered for the Higher Tier papers, since nearly 100% of them achieve A* to C grades.  At A Level we offer English Literature and Media Studies, both of which are very popular amongst Sixth Form pupils.

Our candidates have enjoyed another very successful summer in the public examinations.  At GCSE level we had a total of 335 entries across the two specifications (English and English Literature).  From all those candidates we had a pass rate of 98%, with 87% of our pupils gaining A* to B grades. At A Level we had a 100% pass rate, with 83% of those candidates being awarded either an A or B grade.  Congratulations for all the hard work put in for these exams and best wishes to those A Level candidates who are about to embark on their university studies, several of whom are continuing with English at degree level.

The Department prides itself on its range of extra-curricular activities. We run creative writing competitions for all senior school pupils and Sixth Form English Literature students are encouraged to submit entries for The Arnold Poetry Prize.

We have an extensive programme of public reading and debating events and make major contributions towards School drama productions.