English and Media
We are a successful, creative and outward looking department. Our department is characterised by a strong sense of collaboration, enthusiasm for our subject and high aspirations for our teaching and our students’ learning. We enjoy an excellent working relationship with our students, our parents, our colleagues and our school community. . The department’s main aim is to achieve the highest possible standards for all of our students. We hope that our students will enjoy their work in English and Media and strive to ensure that our curriculum offers a rich and diverse range of learning experiences.
In Media, we aim to resource and develop creative, collaborative, interactive and critical Media practitioners who will be of fundamental importance in helping us all transition into this exciting and unknown future. Through English and Media, we aim to:-
- Facilitating a safe and responsible learning culture which allows students to engage fully with challenging texts in a real world context.
- Specialist teaching and ‘cutting edge’ subject knowledge with clear theory/practice links.
- Student collaboration and participatory learning.
- Exciting, collaborative schemes of learning which are well resourced and current.
- Developing skills in the use of high quality media communications technology to create media products to a professional standard.
- Providing opportunities for extra curricular enrichment through productions and media clubs and societies i.e. BBC School Report for Years 7 - 10.
The dept is led by Ms Alkunshalie
Resources & Facilities
English lessons are mainly taught on the ‘E’ corridor in 9 attractive English classrooms; The rooms have resource boxes, dictionaries and thesauruses to support learning activities..
Students have access to a wide range of: novels, plays, poetry, short stories, non-fiction texts and films. They are encouraged to use the internet for research purposes and to use the SAM learning and BBC Bitesize revision site for tests and exams.
Teachers in the department teach from schemes of work which meet the demands of the National Curriculum and examination specifications. All our schemes of work are skills based and cover a wide range of learning activities to suit all learners. We constantly review our schemes of work to ensure that they are fit for purpose and that they provide opportunities for ‘stretch’ and ‘challenge’ for all students whatever their ability.
After school club for Year 7 and 8 students
The English department run an after school club for a select number of Year 7 and Year 8 students called the Burnet News Club.
The Burnet News Club is a network of school news clubs that equip young people with thoughtful voices on the social, political and economic issues that affect their lives. This club is run by the Economist Foundation and a lot of different schools across the country take part.
For more details about the club and to read some of the blogs by our students please follow the links below.
Media also run a weekly film club, and various extra-curricular activites, like exam support and theatre trips are regular features of the year.
