English is at the heart of what pupils do at CRGS: reading texts, interpreting them and forming one’s own opinions about them while considering others’ responses are fundamental skills whatever one’s area of interest.

Our curriculum is as broad as we can make it within the constraints of government policy. Lower School pupils study a wide range of poetry, prose, drama and non-fiction drawn from different centuries and various parts of the world. Year 7 enjoys an hour of practical Drama a week which culminates in a performance in the Summer Term. Year 9 is treated as a preparation year for GCSE in which higher-level texts and tasks are addressed.

Years 10 and 11 follow the Cambridge IGCSE course in First Language English (code no. 0522) and Literature (English) (code no. 0476).  The versions authorised for UK maintained schools have no coursework and all written assessment is by exam.  The two Language papers test response to unseen media and non-fiction texts; and examine a broad range of writing types including creative, argumentative and informative writing.  Speaking & Listening is tackled during the two years of the course and follows the familiar pattern of individual contribution, paired work and group discussion.  The first Literature paper focuses on poetry and prose drawn from the board’s anthologies and a Shakespeare play (currently Julius Caesar or Much Ado.)  The second Literature paper offers unseen practical criticism of a poem or a short prose passage.  As at A Level, the secret of success is a detailed appreciation of the manipulation of language in each context.  We are fully convinced that the rigour and breadth of these courses will suit our very able candidates

A Level English Literature is a very popular option: about one third of the Sixth Form chooses it. Classes are run as seminars with students researching and presenting their views on a broad selection of texts drawn from the OCR specification. Year 12 reads a major poet (currently Wordsworth or Frost) and a key Victorian Novel (Wuthering Heights or Tess of the d’Urbervilles) for the sole exam paper. Coursework covers three texts: a typical set might tackle Philip Larkin’s High Windows, Plenty by David Hare and The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies. Year 13 looks at older texts including Othello, Paradise Lost and Dr Faustus for the exam; and a thematic group of three further texts for coursework such as Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, Sylvia Plath’s Ariel and Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls. Extra sessions for talented and ambitious students lead every year to successful applications to Oxford, Cambridge and other leading universities, and to the Advanced Extension Award in which most of our entrants gain Distinctions.


Extra-curricular Drama is largely led by members of the English Department. Recent productions include Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia, Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and a Lower School adaptation of Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

 English Department staff: