Subject overview

How vital is it for your son or daughter to read accurately, write clearly and speak effectively? In the English department, every teacher is acutely aware how important these life skills are; it's our responsibility to develop these abilities, which can then be utilised in every subject.

Our results in English indicate how seriously we take our responsibility. We plan lessons and homework with the interests of your son and daughter, making learning relevant and presenting it in innovative ways. Other English teachers in the county regularly visit to observe our lessons, as we are an officially recognised leading Department, with particular expertise in encouraging speaking and listening. Your child will quickly develop the confidence to discuss a range of issues, as well as appreciating other's views and beginning to listen more critically.

Our classrooms are colourful and well stocked with resources, but beyond the classroom we ensure that every student has opportunities to visit the theatre, hear famous poets read their poetry live or discover the details of the newsroom of the Guardian newspaper. This year authors and poets will visit the school, not just to talk about how they get their inspiration, but also to involve the students in the creation of new poetry, drama and plots for novels. Even Shakespeare's "The Tempest" springs vividly to life when a visiting theatre group performs a new interpretation.

The English department is proud of its excellent results in Year 9 internal examinations as well as GCSE English, English Literature and Media Studies. Our success is illustrated by the number of students who choose to remain in the school to study either 'A' level English Language and Literature or Communication Studies. However, our proudest achievement is our ability to develop skills in every student - from the most gifted to the student who will always need extra support. Every child has a potential that can be developed in English.

Key stage 3 

Year 7

What will English lessons be like during the first two years at Holmer Green?

• Reading more widely
• Increasing vocabulary
• Speaking more confidently
• Writing in a more interesting and varied way

Lessons will be interactive with different activities available, like group work, debates, discussions and presentations – not just silent reading or a lesson of writing. ICT will be used both in the classroom, and in homework tasks, helping students to develop new skills.

In Year 7, students are taught in classes where the other students have similar abilities. This allows the students to make quick progress if they grasp ideas easily, or gives them extra help and time if they need to work more steadily. There is mobility between groups, which allows students to make further progress through the careful target setting.

How can someone at home help?

• Listen to students read or alternatively share reading a book
• Ask questions about the books read
• Discuss the characters that were read about together
• Make regular trips to the library
• Read through homework tasks with your son or daughter to help him or her recognise errors in drafting, and correct them before giving work in

What would be helpful to purchase? 

• A pocket dictionary and Thesaurus to help with homework.

Year 8

In Year 8, students are set and will build and develop literacy skills using ‘English Frameworking 2’ as their class text book and continuing to experience a range of varied texts, including Shakespeare and poetry. There will still be opportunities to read texts of their own choice as well as class readers, and English teachers will actively encourage speaking and listening skills as an element of each unit of work.

During this year, students will be introduced to a range of practise papers for their end of year exams. This is an active process, undertaken to demystify, and familiarise your son or daughter with, the format of the examination. Tests, informally in class, and more formally during the Summer term, will help students become more at ease with timing their answers effectively.

Every effort is made in this year to ensure students progress rather than just ‘mark time.’ Increasingly challenging work is introduced and proportionally higher expectations ensure that both written and spoken work is more accurate and sophisticated.

How can you help your son or daughter?

At Holmer Green Senior School we aim to continue developing the literacy skills of students across the whole curriculum. Parents can help to support these skills too, within the more relaxed atmosphere of the home. Here are a few suggestions which could help your son or daughter to work more effectively in every subject in every area:

• Encourage your son or daughter to read a newspaper. Students often have little grasp of current affairs and need to develop a broader outlook. They should be able to differentiate between factual articles and the sort of opinions expressed in the readers’ letters page. Look at headlines and ask your child to predict what the article may be about. If your son or daughter is reluctant to read the whole newspaper, choose a particular article that may be of interest and discuss it.
• Watch the 6 O’clock News together, or ask your son or daughter to explain to you the items that have appeared on BBC1’s Newsround (broadcast earlier in the day). He or she should be able to recall and recount information clearly. Discuss the order items appear in the news and why some news is more important than others. Ask your son or daughter which item would have been his or her leading story. 
• Encourage him or her to write a holiday diary, or to collect souvenirs of any special trips to museums, art galleries, castles, zoos or the seaside. Presenting written impressions with real life evidence helps students understand the importance of their own opinions supported by factual proof. 
• Read with your son or daughter, particularly if you are a father reading to a son. As they begin secondary school, boys have often mastered the technical skills needed to read, but their interest in books tends to wane. If they see key male figures reading in the home it could illustrate to them that reading is a worthwhile pursuit. Discuss what your children read, asking them questions to ensure they understand the vocabulary and the details of the text. 
• What you read is not important – books, magazines, comics. You could recommend one of your favourite authors to your child, and perhaps read him or her a particularly good chapter. Alternatively, let your son or daughter show you a book he or she has enjoyed. Dip in and out of books, letting your child tell the story to fill in the gaps. Home in on the best bits at first. Reading’s not a penance, after all. Enjoy it. 
• Encourage your child’s research skills, using dictionaries, atlases and reference books. Many students are confident about using the Internet and CD ROMs but cannot look up information in books, or even check the spelling and meaning of words in a dictionary. When a student needs to research a subject for homework, a print-out from the Internet is often no guarantee that they have learned anything. Encourage your son or daughter to write down the details they have researched in his or her own words. This is the best way to understand and remember information
• Enrol your son or daughter in the public library. There are a wide range of facilities now available in libraries (magazines, videos, music-tapes, story tapes and reference books) which we could never hope to compete with in our school library. Libraries are no longer silent and unwelcoming. A weekly book chosen to read at bed-time, and brought along to read during registration at school, should be part of his or her routine. 
• Please talk to your son or daughter – at mealtimes, walking the dog, washing the car, anywhere. Know his or her favourite subjects, their strengths and weaknesses, what lessons they find difficult and why. Take an interest in their homework, be supportive when they have spellings to learn or French vocabulary to revise. Help them to plan and make rough drafts, organise their time so that they feel they can enjoy other pastimes as well as homework. Provide them with a peaceful space without the distractions of TV where they can concentrate without interruptions.

These ideas may already form part of your approach to helping your son or daughter. They are all positive – encouraging rather than dominating your child. As parents your role is vital to support what we are striving to achieve for every student at Holmer Green Senior School.

Year 9 

In Year 9 students are set and focus on acquiring the skills they will need to develop in preparation for GCSEs. They will study a Shakespearian text in detail, develop analytical skills, understand the conventions of specific genres and create their own texts employing both figurative and metaphorical language.

This is an especially important time for students to widen their reading repertoire. Reading a newspaper and discussing articles with your son or daughter can widen their vocabulary, broaden their outlook and increase their perception. 

Watching the early evening news can also be beneficial, and investigating any of the classic literature that abounds in the library can make them aware of different historical and cultural contexts. If reading a classic text like ‘Great Expectations’ or ‘Tom Brown’s School Days’ is too daunting, try reading it together or follow chapters with a ‘speaking book’ tape. You could also try reading the text yourself at the same time as your son or daughter, as you can then discuss the characters or plots together. 

In Year 9, students will use ‘English Frameworking 3’ and consolidate the points they have learned from primary school until this time. Frequent testing on reading and writing skills will increase their expertise. 

It is the English department’s aim for every student to have made real progress between Key Stage 2 and 3. This should not only be realised in their assessments, but in their mature, literate approach to reading, writing, speaking and listening. 

Key stage 4

English at Holmer Green Senior School is taught by experienced specialists with the capacity to interpret your son’s or daughter’s language needs and ensure their development, based on the sure knowledge that language and learning go hand in hand. At Key Stage 4 students are set for their GCSE language and literature lessons.

In Literature, every student will study novels, plays and poetry which can be both modern and part of our literary heritage. The texts include ‘Lord of the Flies’, ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘An Inspector Calls’.

Students will be required to purchase their own GCSE texts and all texts are readily available. Additional texts to complement their studies include the Letts and Cambridge Notes literature guides, which can also be purchased in bookshops and provide both guidance notes and detailed commentaries on the texts. Every student would also benefit from obtaining a Thesaurus to help widen their vocabulary. All students will take two GCSEs: English Literature and English Language. Students may also opt for Media Studies, which provides insight into the world of advertising, the press and entertainment industry. It is also concerned with the growth of technology and the possibilities lent by the current explosion in information-related industries.

How can you help your child?

Encourage research skills, using dictionaries, atlases and reference books. Many students are confident about using the Internet and CD ROMs but cannot look up information in books, or even check the spelling and meaning of words in a dictionary. When researching a subject for homework, a print-out from the Internet is often no guarantee that they have learned anything. Encourage your child to write down the details they have researched in his or her own words. This is the best way to understand and remember information.

Key stage 5 

Information to be available soon. 

Please contact the school on 01494 712219 if you require information.