The Department
Portchester School's English Department is staffed by seven full-time staff who share six well-resourced rooms. Each
room has an interactive whiteboard connected to a computer which runs from the school’s network.
Each colleague makes a significant contribution to the work of the department as a whole, and takes an active part in the development of schemes of work and resources. We hold regular department meetings and share good practice and ideas. The team is supportive toward each other and in its approach to the various needs of the students.
Our Curriculum
We believe that it is important for teachers, as well as students, to have the scope to express their individuality in the classroom; at the same time we believe that all our students are entitled to expect that we will cover the whole curriculum in appropriate detail, both those parts that appeal to us most as teachers and those that we find less appealing.
At Key Stage 3 we have developed shared schemes of work which identify what we want the students to learn. We use an agreed common assessment task twice a half-term to monitor and reward students’ learning.
At GCSE we enter students for AQA 'B' English and more able students for AQA ‘B’ English Literature as well. We are currently looking at ways to ensure all GCSE students are entered for at least two GCSEs through the English Department to include Language with either Literature or GCSE Media Studies.
Coursework, both written and spoken, has great importance placed upon it and we concentrate on making tasks as interesting and accessible as possible.
For both Key Stages 3 and 4, the texts and schemes of work we study have been carefully chosen and written to motivate boys as much as possible. We are aware that boys can be naturally opposed to reading and writing, seeing it as ‘boring’. The English Department believes the lessons it offers go some way to combating this feeling in some of its students.
Students
The range of ability of our students is very wide, and we do our best to ensure that students who need support of whatever kind are identified and assisted. After the first half term in year 7 students are grouped by ability to ensure more able students are stretched, and comparatively weaker students are given the support and attention they need to guarantee good progress.
Outside the Classroom
The English Department is responsible for producing The Sportchester Chronicle, the school’s termly newspaper. We aim to involve as many students as possible in this process. We also enter the Mock Trial competition which involves preparing a team of strudents to both defend and prosecute a case at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court. Throughout the school year we also run a series of competitions including a spelling bee, poetry competitions and a creative writing contest. The range of ability of our students is very wide, and we do our best to ensure that students who need support of whatever kind are identified and assisted. After the first half term in year 7 students are grouped by ability to ensure more able students are stretched, and comparatively weaker students are given the support and attention they need to guarantee good progress.
English
