English

English is at the heart of what students 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.

We aim to challenge our able students to read, write, speak and listen in English with increasing sophistication and mastery, developing their engagement with the rich cultural capital of literature written in English by diverse writers. Students will develop a strong understanding of how to interpret others’ language uses so as to understand their purposes, techniques and subtexts; and of how to manipulate their own language uses for a wide variety of purposes in a range of registers, forms and contexts. 

A level English Literature is a very popular option in the Sixth Form. Classes are run as seminars with students researching and presenting their views on a broad selection of texts.

Department Team

Ms H. Drake - Head of Department
Ms N. Cologne - Teacher of English
Mrs K Curtis – Deputy Headteacher and Teacher of English
Mr T. Degun - Head of Lower School and Teacher of English
Ms M. Jangali - Teacher of English
Mr C. Jasper - Deputy Head of Department, Leader of Careers and Teacher of English
Dr I Ross – Teacher of Classics and A Level English Literature

Curriculum at a glance

Key Stage 3

In Year 7 we explore the question: Why We Tell Stories? through A Monster Calls, and Oliver Twist. Another focus of this year is Women’s Writing. In Year 8 the question changes to: How We Tell Stories, and this pursues a focus on genre study (Detective Fiction, Romanticism, Comedy (Shakespearean Comedy). Year 9 follows the topic of ‘Literature and Masculinities’, and includes WW1 Literature, Romeo and Juliet, and ‘Literature of Protest’.

Key Stage 4

For the GCSE years, the course studied is AQA English Language, and AQA English Literature. The GCSE years allows students to explore a range of literary texts, from modern literature in their Language paper, such as Lord of the Flies to Shakespeare as one of their Literature units. Nineteenth Century literature is also introduced in Year 11, and poetry is studied in Year 10.

Key Stage 5

At A level we follow the OCR English Literature A level course. Units across the two A level years include Shakespeare, Drama and Poetry Pre-1900, and Comparative and Contextual Study, alongside Coursework units which allow students to enhance their ability to write critically on poetry, prose and drama. Authors studied on the A level course include, but are not limited to: Shakespeare, Milton, Webster, Rossetti, Woolf, Austen, Stoker and Carter, with the addition of a variety of modern writers in the NEA (non-exam assessment) which vary each year.

There is also an English Language enrichment option in Year 12.

 

Enrichment and Support

We strongly encourage all students to take part in enrichment activities such as theatre trips, lectures and performances by external presenters, creative writing, and public speaking and debating competitions.

The English Department hosts LitSoc, FemSoc and LGBTSoc, provides Oxbridge preparation and also supports the student-led magazine The Purple Crown.