English

Head of Department: Mr A. Heath

Teaching Staff: Mrs H. Brealey, Mrs T. Dent, Mrs J. Evans, Mrs M. Greaney, Mrs P. Kyle

Overview

The English Department at St. Andrew’s is currently staffed by 7 dedicated, enthusiastic and widely experienced professional teachers, whose expertise is wide and varied and produces a dynamic and forward-thinking area of learning.

We have 6 spacious classrooms, all with data projectors, and we are constantly striving to harness the use of technology in our teaching to widen students’ learning experiences and maximize their success in our department. We do, however, still use the good old-fashioned book in many areas of what we do!

We try to teach the students to express themselves as accurately as they possibly can; as well as with the flair and panache required in a complex global community. English is the lingua franca of the professional world, and it is our duty to help the students succeed academically in our area of expertise.

A key area for development is the provision for our students at Key Stage 4 and an exciting move is the introduction of the full suite of qualifications at IGCSE offered by University of Cambridge, beginning in the academic year of 2011-2012. . These qualifications include English as a First Language, English as a Second Language and English Literature. These qualifications are accepted and respected by institutions of higher and further education all over the world and will offer our students the choices they need to move on with their educational journeys, equipped with the premier international qualifications on offer to them in the English area.

At A level we offer the Edexcel qualification - a rigorous and demanding 2 year course - that equips the students with the necessary skills of analysis and interpretation to enable them to access the most difficult and challenging of university courses worldwide.

In conclusion, English is a popular subject with the students, where they can express their opinions about the world, and its writings, while we are constantly working to build on our past successes to move on to an even more successful future.

Anthony Heath – Head of Department