Aims of Course

Description of the Course

English consists of four areas: Reading, Writing, Listening and Talk. Each of these areas is covered in depth throughout the S3 course, as is Literacy as a whole. We want pupils to love English and enjoy the texts that they read, listen to and watch. English is a subject that opens up a world of possibilities and we want to convey our own enthusiasm for the subject.The work that we do in class will range from critical essays writing to debating, from tragedy to comedy. We will work to improve creative writing skills, group work, project based work, personal/ reflective writing and talk, as well as listening activities and media work. The texts that we use will not simply be poetry, novels and drama, but will also involve film, newspapers, magazines, radio and examples of texts that we all encounter in our day to day activities.

Learners will also study a range of Scottish texts for textual analysis to help them with the progression to the Senior Phase. These texts could be a range of poems or short stories depending on pupil and staff choice.Assessment will be carried out through a combination of formal and informal assessment. Informal assessment will take place through teacher observation (written form in jotters and verbally), student self and peer assessment, with pupils being encouraged to identify what they want and need to learn in the future. Formal assessment (testing) will continue to take place in folio work, close reading assessments and talk activities. Whatever they are working on and however they are being assessed, learners should be able to see the value in what they are doing and gain enjoyment from every task.