WELCOME TO THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Mr K Hay, Principal Teacher (Room 3)

Miss C McWilliam (Room 7)

Mrs S O’Hara (Room 4)

Mrs N Boardman (Room 6)

There are four core, compulsory skills that we work on through a varied and responsive curriculum. At each stage, we aim to provided challenge and support for all the needs of our young people.

We have a wide range of texts available, both modern and traditional; print and film. We work towards allowing each of our young people the opportunity to develop their skills in:

CREATION OF TEXTS

  • Writing – creative, personal, reflective, persuasive, discursive and transactional forms.
  • Talking – being able to present well-structured talks on a specific topic to an audience.

ANALYSIS OF TEXTS                

  • Reading – Close reading of texts for understanding, analysis and evaluation; analysis of literature through critical essays
  •  Listening – being aware of not just what is said, but of how it is said, often using non-fiction video texts.

 

COURSES OFFERED

BGE: S1-S3

Skills development builds on the work from Primary 7. We link with our P7 teaching colleagues to help with the transition to High School by providing a jotter for written tasks, which then travels to High School with the young person.

We use a range of texts (printed and film) to provide opportunities to achieve the requirements for the English and Literacy Outcomes. There is an increased focus on the skills required for Senior Phase during S3, allowing the young people who are ready to experience learning opportunities more similar to those in the Senior Phase.

NATIONAL 4

Our young people will be assessed at National 4 level when they are ready for such assessments.

National 4 is internally assessed, and is one of the basic requirements of school leavers heading into further education. There is scope for personalisation and choice through the Added Value Unit (AVU) which forms part of the final assessment.

Candidates must complete a talk at National 4 level in order to achieve a pass at this level.

 

NATIONAL 5

Young people in S4 and S5 will be given the opportunity to achieve National 5. This is an external qualification and requires a significant level of independent work in order to complete the course.

The final exam consists of:     1 hour-long paper of Close Reading

90 minute paper of Literature studies (set text and class literature study)

2 pieces of writing for a Portfolio that is submitted to SQA

Candidates must complete a talk at National 5 level in order to achieve a pass at this level.

 

HIGHER

Young people in S5 and S6 will be given the opportunity to achieve Higher English once they have achieved National 5. This is an external qualification and requires a large amount of independent work to complete the course.

The final exam consists of:     90 minute paper of Close Reading

90 minute paper of Literature studies (set text and class literature study)

2 pieces of writing for a Portfolio that is submitted to SQA.

Candidates must complete a talk at Higher level in order to achieve a pass at this level.

Entrance to the Higher course is at the discretion of the department.

 

ADVANCED HIGHER

This course is designed to prepare our young people for university studies. It is taught through tutorials and has a greater emphasis on independent work over teacher-led activity. Candidates will study a range of literature and will create a writing folio and dissertation for external examination.

Reading and Teenagers

USEFUL LINKS

BBC Bitesize National 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zx4cwmn

BBC Bitesize National 5 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zmcrd2p

BBC Bitesize Higher https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zqxhfg8

 

SQA Higher English https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47904.html

SQA National 5 English https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47410.html

SQA National 4 English https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47403.html