Staff
C Watson - Principal Teacher
K Gordon
A Buckley
J Bartlett
E McNaughton
English
Henry Miller: "Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music-the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself."
S1–S3
Pupils in S1 to S3 will be taught and assessed throughout the year on Reading, Writing, Talking and Listening.
They will study many genres including poetry, novels, short stories, film and plays. Pupils will be asked to respond to class texts with critical essays in order to develop and express a deeper appreciation for what they read, as well as help build their skills for qualifications in the senior phase. Pupils will also be able to express themselves in creative and reflective/personal writing, and will focus on tasks to improve their literacy skills across the curriculum and for the world of work.
We collaborate with other departments in the school and pupils may find themselves studying the American Indians in Literacy and illustrating their own book characters in the Art department.
S4–S6
Pupils have the choice of National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.
National 4 consists of four internal assessments and an Added Value Unit.
National 5 and Higher pupils will write a folio of two pieces consisting of broadly creative and broadly discursive essays. They will also prepare for Paper 1- Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation and Paper 2- Critical Reading in the SQA exam. Paper 1 uses the reading skills they’ve developed through the years to answer questions on an unseen text. Paper 2 challenges their analysis skills as they answer questions on a Scottish text from the set list, covering poetry, drama or prose, and write an evaluative essay on another text they have studied. Pupils study a range of texts which can include works by Norman MacCaig, Carol Ann Duffy, Robert Jenkins, Arthur Miller, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ray Bradbury.
Advanced Higher
The Advanced Higher course is particularly well suited to pupils who enjoy the analysis of literature and have demonstrated their skills in this area at Higher level. A significant emphasis is placed on independent study and this helps to prepare pupils for education beyond school. This year’s course encompasses: The study of literature, a dissertation and a creative writing folio.
William Shakespeare, "Henry VI": “I’ll call for pen and ink and write my mind.”
Homework and Revision
Homework
All pupils in all years will have English homework every week. S1 to S2 pupils will have weekly reading and writing tasks. The amount and the nature of the homework will vary according to the year they are in and the course they are studying.
Please refer to the Homework Programme document on the relevant year/course page for further details.
Additional Support
Here are some useful websites to help with homework and revision:
There are also study clubs which runs every week.
Please come along if you would like help with homework, class work or just somewhere quiet to work.
Study support will also be offered at key points during the year for National 5 and Higher candidates.