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WELCOME TO OUR DEPARTMENT |
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DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mr Brendan Rooney
STAFF MEMBERS: Ms P. Brady, Ms K. McArdle, Mr M. Morris, Mr R. Thompson, Ms M. McIntaggart |
“The task facing English teachers is finding ways of building confidence and raising the pupils’ self esteem. We must strive to raise their expectations.”
- MISSION STATEMENT
The English Department of Christian Brothers’ School, Glen Road is one of the biggest departments in the school, teaching all the students ranging from Year 8 to Year 12. We have 6 teachers working in the department at present. All our students are entered for the Key Stage 3 examination and they also sit GCSE English. At GCSE level, students can also choose to study English Literature and we hope to offer ‘A/AS’ level English Literature in the near future. In recent years students sitting English Language at GCSE have achieved excellent results, especially A* - C.
KEY STAGE 3 COURSE OUTLINE
In English at Key Stage 3, the pupils follow the Programme of Study for English in the Northern Ireland Curriculum. Thematic units of work have also been devised which incorporate work on the three different attainment targets:
Talking & Listening
Reading
Writing
Each pupil in Key Stage 3 sits and external test. During Key Stage 3 the teachers recognise the growing development of pupils—their personalities, capabilities and abilities. All teaching tries to encourage independent learning, informed judgments and decision making, taking into account their own lives and those of others.
By the end of Key Stage 3, all pupils should have encountered the following areas:
Poetry
Drama
Media/non-fiction texts—newspapers, etc.
Prose
Literature from other cultures
Reports
Teacher assessment of pupils' progress is through classwork, weekly set homework's in line with department policy and end of term tests.
SPECIFICATION AT A GLANCE GCSE ENGLISH
Paper 1 30% of the total marks. 1hr 45mins
Section A Reading response to non-fiction/media texts 15%
Section B Choose of one from three or more questions testing writing which seeks to argue, persuade or advise 15%
Paper 2 30% of the total marks. 1hr 30mins
Section A Reading response to poetry from different cultures and traditions in the AQA Anthology 15%
Section B Choose of one from three or more questions testing writing which seeks to inform explain or describe 15%
COURSEWORK 40% OF THE TOTAL MARKS
Speaking and Listening (En1)
Three assessed activities 20%
Two responses to Reading (En2) and two responses to Writing (En3), comprising:
- Shakespeare (En2)* (5%)
- Prose Study (En2)* (5%)
- Media (En3 analyse, review, comment) (5%)
- Original Writing (En3 imagine, explore, entertain) (5%)
* indicates a "cross-over" response (i.e. it can be used to meet the coursework requirements of both GCSE English Specification A and GCSE English Literature Specification A). 20%
ANNUAL EVENTS
- DECEMBER—Speaking and Listening Day; Theatre Visits
- JANUARY—Short Story Competition
FEBRUARY—Readathon; Triple FM Local Radio
- MARCH—Celebration of World Book Day
USEFUL WEB SITE LINKS, HELPFUL HOMEWORK LINKS, TRIPS ETC
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