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English

The English department at Clifton College is a large and effective one, providing a stimulating and successful grounding in English language and literature throughout the college. English Literature remains one of the most popular choices for pupils at A-level. The aims and influence of the department stretch beyond the classroom and the curriculum, and, through the involvement of its members in a wide variety of cultural, artistic, moral and pastoral areas, it is in many ways firmly at the heart of the school.

Head of English
Miss Sarah Clarke MA
Teachers
Mr Will Corrie BA Ms Sophie Cuesta MA Miss Emily Hawkins BA Dr Anna Jamison MA PhD Mrs Mary Sharp MA Mr Hugo Tilney BA Miss Sarah Atkinson BA Mrs Rebecca Wimshurst BA

There are presently seven full-time English teachers, many of whom have important responsibilities within the school but whose principal activity is the committed teaching of English to a high standard. To provide the best education for the range of ability and background within the school, the department gives careful attention to Special Needs and English as a Foreign Language and there is detailed assessment of pupils’ progress at every stage of their education.

Resources

The department enjoys a compact set of teaching rooms in the Frank Tribe building; each full time teacher has his or her own classroom, and adjoining the Tribe building is the stock room. All the classrooms are connected to the school network, and the department has its own range of modern audio-visual facilities. The department has a large central stock of drama and poetry texts, and each classroom has a small selection of fiction to supplement that held in the school’s main library.

Teaching

Although Drama and Theatre Studies are taught outside the department, there are close links between these subjects and English, and opportunities exist for some aspects of the English curriculum to be taught through Drama.

In Block II (Third, Fourth and Fifth forms) pupils are set by ability. In each year group there are one or two EFL sets, which are prepared for the IGCSE English as a Second Language examination as well as for IGCSE English as a First Language., Most other pupils are entered for both the English and Literature IGCSE qualifications.

Third Form

The first year at Clifton is spent in becoming acquainted with a range of texts and ideas, learning and refining the skills of expression, both orally and on paper and developing pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment of literature from different ages, cultures and countries.

The department is constantly developing a Third Form curriculum to provide a high-quality framework for pupils, but also give a broad common grounding regardless of pupils’ educational background.

IGCSE

The Fourth and Fifth forms sit both English and Literature certificates, except in the case of EFL and some pupils for whom it would be better to concentrate on just IGCSE English Language. We follow the Cambridge IGCSE course for both English and Literature and have just had our first cohort gaining excellent results in both qualifications. Coursework, practice for the unseen analysis paper and preparation for the analytical and imaginative examinations for both certificates take place over the two-year course. Once again, the emphasis is on furthering knowledge and the appreciation of language in many different forms. Class debate and discussion are encouraged, and we hope to promote the intelligent enjoyment of literature and enhance pupils’ responses and ability to evaluate through our course. We also encourage as much independent reading as possible and provide guidance for pupils of differing interests and abilities.

A Level Literature

Pupils are entered for the OCR English Literature syllabus, sitting two modules for the AS and A2 exams at the end of the Lower and Upper Sixth respectively. Groups are kept small and shared by two teachers who usually take the class throughout the entire course. Although the preparation for particular modules is inevitably important, we also seek to encourage both class and individual study at a high level. Those pupils taking English at this level are expected to contribute to class debate, remain open and flexible in their thinking and relish the opportunity of spending one or two years reading, writing and discussing. We have had a number of successes at Oxbridge level and this is something which we hope to continue.

A Level Language

A Level Language (AQA) is offered at both AS and A2 Level. AS Level offers an introduction to the building blocks of our language – lexis, grammar/syntax, phonology, discourse structure- and students are required to analyse language precisely and systematically. They are also given opportunities to explore areas of sociolinguistics, such as the influence of gender, power and technology on the language that we use. As well as developing analytical skills, students develop their writing skills as part of their coursework in areas of personal interest – autobiographical writing, dramatic monologues, travel writing, editorials, websites etc. A love of detailed analytical work and writing is a must for this course! At A2 Level students undertake an extended independent language investigation. They also study the history of the English language and some of key influences on our language, as well as attitudes to language change. The second component in the A2 course focuses on children’s language development – how and in what ways children develop the skills of speech, reading and writing.

A number of students have continued their study of Language at higher level with university Language or Linguistics courses or found that their study of Language has strengthened their study of Literature or Modern Foreign Languages.

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