Studying English at Rookwood School in the Senior School provides a beautiful opportunity to develop love and appreciation for literature with sharp inquiry, supported exploration and creative analysis.
Nurturing curiosity
Our pupils are encouraged to be curious about the history of English Literature, to ask questions about the nuances of language, to learn new words, speak confidently and to be active readers. In KS3 we study a range of literature texts, including ‘The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas’, WW1 poetry, ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the drama text of ‘Frankenstein’, as well as ‘The Tempest’ or ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Macbeth’. We also try to instill a life-long love of reading for pleasure and we run the Rookwood Reading Challenge for Years 7 to 9, to encourage our young readers to explore a range of writers and genres.
Syllabus
In KS4 we follow the AQA syllabus for English Language and English Literature, currently including the study of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, J.B Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ and the Power and Conflict collection of poems from the AQA Anthology.
In KS3 and 4, our study of language is extensive and includes reading and responding to articles, speeches, letters, essays, leaflets, reviews and reports. We study how language can be used to influence the reader or listener, and practise employing a wide range of linguistic and structural devices in a range of students’ own transactional writing tasks. We focus extensively on developing an appreciation of creative writing and provide regular opportunities for our pupils to refine their own pieces, in a variety of genres.
Other opportunities
The English team also offers some exciting extra-curricular opportunities, including participation in the Rotary Youth Speaks and Young Writer competitions. We also run a variety of different cultural trips throughout the year, including visits to local and London-based theatres, as well as welcoming a theatre groups to the school who offer excellent workshops on the GCSE set texts.
