English and Drama

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Department Staff

Department Overview

EnglishEnglish and Drama are taught together in a single department at The Perse, and are core subjects in the School's curriculum. The department today inherits the celebrated Perse 'Play Way' tradition of teaching English and Drama, which nurtured such eminent figures as the critic F.R. Leavis and the director Sir Peter Hall. At the same time, we are keen to address the exciting contemporary challenges of our subjects, setting out to introduce all our pupils to the many facets of English and Drama today, enthusing them about reading, writing, speaking and listening, drama, literary appreciation and response. We aim to enable all members of the school to flourish academically in our subjects, inspiring them to degree level and beyond whilst experiencing some of the cultural riches of language, literature and the theatre. Beyond the curriculum, the department organises a wide range of activities in which all Perse pupils can participate, including an extensive programme of drama productions, debating and public speaking events, trips to the theatre and other cultural events, clubs, societies and competitions.

Curriculum/Exam Specifications

EnglishYears 7, 8 and 9

In Years 7, 8 and 9, English is taught in form groupings. Set texts include works by authors as diverse as Shakespeare, Coleridge, Duffy and Syal. The English scheme of work includes substantial Drama and Public Speaking elements, drawing on the famous Perse 'Play Way' tradition. All members of Years 7 and 8 participate in the annual Lower School Arts Festival. We offer pupils in all three Year Groups opportunities to: take part in a school Drama production; attend a performance at the theatre in Cambridge or London; participate in a Field Day excursion (for example to Stratford-upon-Avon, or London's South Bank). Members of Year 9 have the option of following the Drama course which will lead into the GCSE syllabus in 2011/13.

Years 10 and 11

English is taught in streamed sets in Year 11, when all members of the School take GCSEs in English (Language) and English Literature. We follow OCR Englishspecifications 1900 and 1901 (www.ocr.org.uk), including coursework options - and all pupils are entered for the higher tier examination papers. Members of Year 10 in 2010/11 will be following for the first time the IGCSE courses in First Language English and English Literature (www.cie.org.uk). A wide variety of speaking activities and a programme of theatre trips are important features of our GCSE and IGCSE courses.

Sixth Form

In the Sixth Form we offer courses in English Literature at AS and A2, following the new OCR specifications H071 and H471 (www.ocr.org.uk). We follow the available coursework options, including the opportunity to produce creative writing at AS. We arrange an extensive programme of lectures, readings and trips to the theatre as part of the course - including a literary excursion to Dublin or New York. In 2009, the Perse School was awarded the 'A Level Award' (The Good Schools' Guide) for the best results in AEA English nationally. The Department offers extra seminars in the Michaelmas term for those applying to study English at Oxford or Cambridge.


Extra-curricular Activities

The English and Drama Department oversees a wide range of academic, extra-curricular and extension activities, including:

Kevin

Kevin Crossley-Holland visits the school

We offer all students the chance to join our trips to the theatre - in Cambridge, London, Stratford-upon-Avon and elsewhere.

We run three debating clubs:


and enter pupils annually for a wide range of external Public Speaking and Debating events and competitions.

English

We hold annual events to celebrate:

We run a range of in-house writing and Public Speaking competitions, including:

We offer pupils the opportunity to enter for external challenges including:

We also encourage pupils to submit their writing to 'The Pelican' magazine and to compile their own anthologies and weblogs.

Drama

Please see the Drama section for details of curricular Drama provision and the extra-curricular Drama programme provided by the Department.