The English Department at Clifton College Prep School shares the view outlined in the National Curriculum, that “a high-quality education in English will teach pupils to speak and write fluently so that they can communicate their ideas and emotions to others and through their reading and listening, others can communicate with them. Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development. Reading also enables pupils both to acquire knowledge and to build on what they already know.”
Teaching
We encourage pupils to develop the following: oral skills so that the pupils are confident participants and responsive listeners; fluency in a range of reading, both fiction and non-fiction; an enjoyment of literature – novels, plays, short stories and poetry; ability to use the School Resource Centre and Information Technology facilities selectively to retrieve information through research; the ability to produce a range of types of writing, appropriate to purpose and audience.
The teaching of language skills – handwriting, grammar, spelling and punctuation – is an integral part of the curriculum. Crucial to our aims is a coherent purpose and method which ensures continuity between years and Key Stages. Pupils have a weekly library lesson and we try to ensure that all year groups will have sessions with visiting authors over the year.
Why study at Clifton College?
The English department has always given opportunities to pupils to be extended beyond the usual curriculum. These tend to take the form of: extended reading, book groups, author visits, creative writing groups and workshops and publication of the Prep School magazine, ‘The Sheaf’.
In addition, the department runs regular writing competitions, both internal and external.
