In the English Department at Portchester Community School, we aim to make each student’s experience a diverse, interesting and highly enjoyable one. English is vital as our tool of communication, making it crucial that each student is able to read, write and speak with fluency and competence. We also believe that students should be given the opportunity to develop a keen critical sense of the world around them and so aim to provide a wide range of topics, texts and tasks to allow them to explore and enjoy the rich diversity of the subject and to develop themselves as thoughtful, creative and culturally aware individuals.
The English Course:
In Key Stage Three, students study a range of topics including novels, philosophy for children, speeches, debating, original writing, media texts, poetry and a Shakespeare play. The Key Stage culminates in the SATs examinations taken by students at the end of school Year 8.
In Key Stage Four, the department follows the AQA Syllabus A course for both English Language and English Literature and students gain a separate GCSE qualification in each of these subjects. The coursework component of the GCSEs consists of studies of a Shakespeare play, a pre-1914 novel, a media text, a post 1914 play and the production of a piece of original writing, whilst the examination component covers a range of traditional and modern poetry, a modern novel, critical reading, writing skills and texts from other cultures and traditions.
Extra Curricular Opportunities Include:
- GCSE Poetry Live events
- Trips to the theatre to view live shows
- Poetry, debate and young writers’ competitions
- Readathon and other sponsored events
Teaching Staff:
Miss Flux (Subject Leader, English)
Mr Roberts (Deputy Head and English Teacher)
Miss White (English Teacher)
Mrs Pemberton (English Teacher)
Miss Page (Assistant Subject Leader, English)
Mrs Povey (Subject Leader, Citizenship and English Teacher)
Mrs Rixon (House Leader Henry House, PE, English)
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