Beaconhurst School

Senior School - English

Staff

Mrs Susan King (Head of Department), BA, Cert Ed, Dip TESOL
Miss Helen Phillips, BA, MA, PGCE

Mrs Jacqueline Beveridge, BA, Dip Ed
Mr Iain Kilpatrick, BA, MEd, PGCE, FRSA

Mrs Rachel Vevers, MA, PGCE (Librarian)

Transition-S2 Courses

The course continues from the English taught in the Junior School by following the national 5-14 programme. Pupils develop the skills of listening, talking, reading and writing through the study of a variety of language topics and texts, including poetry and plays as well as novels. Pupils are set according to ability and will study different texts but the topics covered are the same and are as follows:

  • Transition: writing for magazine and the production of their own magazine, a granny project and the production of a story book suitable for the Nursery children
  • S1: writing for the radio and the production of their own programme and a refugee project
  • S2: writing for newspapers and the production of their own paper, interviews and opinionating both orally and on paper.

At each stage there will be constant reinforcement of the technical skills already covered plus introduction to more sophisticated spelling rules and punctuation methods.

Personal reading is encouraged through reading lists, library periods and a programme of written and oral activities as well as regular use of young people’s newspapers.

The National Tests in Reading and Writing are taken in the spring of each year prior to the summer reports. However, in S2 the Standard Grade criteria are introduced at the exams in February and at the assessed interviews so that pupils become familiar with what is expected of them.

S3-S6 Courses:

Standard Grade:
Again the pupils are divided into two sets according to ability and study different texts but the same topics, namely advertising, script writing and opinionating. They cover the whole range of writing genres and also a variety of group discussions and presentations. In addition, pupils develop their skills in analytical close reading through the regular study of unseen texts in all genres, including non fiction. Personal reading is maintained as much as possible and occasional critical essays set on the books read to prepare for the personal study required in later exams.

The course is complete by Christmas so during the spring term pupils prepare their folios and start developing the skills which will be required in S5.

Intermediate 2 and Higher
All pupils continue their study of English in S5 by taking either Intermediate 2 or Higher. The texts vary according to the interests and abilities of the pupils but include a Shakespeare play, a novel, a selection of poetry and a film, one of which is Scottish. In addition they take a free-standing unit in oral communication when they perform a formal group discussion on one of their texts.

Some pupils conclude their studies at Intermediate 2 but the majority continue into S6 to gain Higher or as many units as possible.

Advanced Higher
A few pupils opt to develop their skills by taking the Advanced Higher course where they study the Personal Study unit, Textual Analysis and Literature. Fortunately, with such small numbers it is possible to allow the pupils to choose the texts from the specified list so they vary from year to year.

Extra-Curricular Activities:

  • Theatre trips
  • Workshops by writers and drama companies
  • Sponsored reads
  • An introduction to film production through the Expressive Arts programme