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Art & Design

English

Teaching Staff:     
                                
  • Mrs R Martin (HoD)
  • Mr M Rafferty
  • Miss V Whitton
  • Miss C McLaughlin

"‘A word after a word after a word is power"

Margaret Atwood

The English department is staffed by experienced and enthusiastic teachers who are passionate about our subject and its importance in the curriculum.

Our aim is to help all our pupils ‘tell better stories’:

 

  • To improve and enhance the way they communicate in speech and writing

  • To be enriched by reading, listening to and exploring others’ stories, including literature from around the English speaking world

  • To make progress in the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities, including Communication, so that they are equipped to move into the world beyond school.

 

All pupils in Ballycastle High School study English for at least 5 years, with some choosing to extend their studies to A Level and beyond. We are a busy and successful department both in and out of the classroom, running a range of extra-curricular activities including:

 

  • Theatre trips and live streamed events

  • The bi-annual school production

  • External public speaking competitions

  • Creative writing workshops

  • Year group competitions such as ‘Spelling Bees’

‘Stories are wild creatures…When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?’

Patrick Ness

Ks3 Topics
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Developing pupils’ skills in the 3 key areas of Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening. Each year group studies 3 core units giving a thematic and literary focus, alongside class novels.  These units cover a full range of text types and have been designed to prepare pupils for further study in both English Language and Literature.
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  • Year 8 – Texts all around us, Crime and Consequences, Journeys and Discoveries.
  • Year 9 – Power and  Influence, Terror and Wonder, Wild Places and Urban Landscapes
  • Year 10 – Truth and Reality, Dystopias and Other Worlds, Youth and Experience
GCSE
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All pupils study GCSE English Language and one class in each year also study GCSE English Literature.
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English Language:
 

  • Unit 1: 1 hour 45 min examination [30%] Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-fiction and Media texts.

  • Unit 2: 20% Speaking and Listening (3 tasks, internally assessed)

  • Unit 3: 20% Response to Spoken and Written Language (2 Controlled Assessment tasks, internally assessed)

  • Unit 4: 1 hour 45 min examination [30%] Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-fiction texts

 
English Literature (Eduqas):
 

  • Component 1: Shakespeare and Poetry (40% - exam)

  • Component 2: Post 1914 Prose/Drama, 19th century Prose, Unseen poetry (60% - exam)

A-level
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A Level English Literature is a popular choice, which builds on the skills developed at GCSE Level. We follow the WJEC specification, which is a modular course. Pupils sit 2 exams in Year 13 for the AS qualification and complete 2 further exams, plus a piece of coursework in Year 14 for the full A Level.
 

  • Unit 1: Nineteenth Century Prose and 20th Century Drama Exam Unit - 20%: Jane Eyre and A Streetcar Named Desire

  • Unit 2: Twentieth Century Poetry Exam Unit - 20%: Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy

  • Unit 3: Pre 1900-Poetry and Unseen Poetry Exam Unit - 20%: John Donne and comparison of Unseen poems

  • Unit 4: Shakespeare Exam Unit - 20%: The Tempest

  • Unit 5: Prose Pre and Post 2000 Coursework Unit - 20%: Students’ own choice

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