Studying English prepares you for life ahead by encouraging you to form, develop and express your own arguments and ideas in speech and in writing. Through different writers and texts we gain knowledge of the past and present, of other people and of ourselves.
The aim of English teaching at all levels at KGS is to encourage students to respond to a wide variety of types of writing with perception and enjoyment, to express themselves clearly and fluently in a range of contexts and to develop an appreciation of the function, variety and effectiveness of language. In short, we aim to inspire students to develop and maintain an enduring love of the subject.
It is what you read when you don't have to, that determines what you will be when you can't help it
Oscar Wilde
In the first few years, the syllabus is not rigidly prescriptive; members of the Department are encouraged to extend their own approaches to English teaching within the broadly defined areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening and drama, in accordance with the requirements of the National Curriculum, which we shadow. Above all, it is the skills and pleasures of English that we aim to inculcate through varied teaching styles and a lively, creative, flexible and literature-based syllabus.
At GCSE students are taught in six sets of mixed ability. We follow both the English Language and English Literature courses offered by EDUQAS which, we believe, provide rigorous and stretching specifications and a sound grounding for A Level. Our aims are to offer a unified programme of study that does not treat ‘English’ and ‘English Literature’ as separate entities and to seek, wherever possible, to broaden the scope of the syllabuses.
At A Level, students also follow the EDUQAS specification. Here, they are expected to adopt an independent approach, to develop their own critical responses and to inform their thinking by careful contextual research and themed, wider reading.
Our examination results at both GCSE and A Level have maintained their high standard with students regularly achieving full marks in their examination.
English A Level Course Guide
English Information Booklet
Staff
- Head of English, Mrs P Garside
- Teacher of English, Mr D Brook
- Teacher of English, Mrs L Hobbs
- Assistant Head Designated Safeguarding Lead; Head of Lower School; Teacher of English, Mr N Hudson
- Teacher of English, Miss O Jackson
- Second in English, Mrs P Stones
- Teacher of English, Miss K Tamblyn
