The Study of English
Language is the means whereby we both understand and shape our world. For this reason, developing a vocabulary and the skills to use it are more than simply means to an end but vital ends in themselves.
By means of stories, poems, plays and the observation of the physical world around us, we seek to inspire imaginative engagement with a variety of moral, social and psychological issues that are relevant to the life of every human being.
Objectives
From this engagement, it is hoped that there will be three key outcomes:
1. that each child will be encouraged to think,
2. that each child will be encouraged to write,
3. that each child will be encouraged to read.
Discussion and debate naturally follow from the material we consider and result in many different responses - letters, diaries, stories, poems, newspapers, reports and suchlike. In order that children might be able to articulate what they discover, we aim to provide suggestions as to how they might best go about shaping such responses. The content and the tone, however, must come from themselves. In order to facilitate this, we engage with written texts as well as other media and we provide specific targets for individuals to stimulate personal achievement and to provide the means of measuring progress as the pupils develop towards the GCSE course
beginning in the 4ths.
English in the Curriculum
Years 1 to 3
Reading skills
English as a second language
Pupils working through the medium of English as a second language follow a course based on topics of general interest (e.g. leisure activities, food, transport) at an appropriate level of difficulty in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Subject support is closely linked. Teaching is carried out by specialist staff in small groups or on an individual basis, usually to replace Latin or French. A charge is made. (See ESOL - English for speakers of other languages - details.) |
Teaching methods
Generally the Seconds and Thirds are differentiated into a top set and two parallel sets. We have evolved our own programmes for these years. Each term’s work is based upon a common project involving a variety of skills. For example, a whole year group will read material and engage in tasks associated with to the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, or to the Shackleton story, or to a novel.. On the other hand, teachers are free to use their own materials and strategies in order to prepare for the objectives embedded in the projects. Our aim is to establish common objectives reflecting core skills, and at the same time to allow individual teachers freedom to use a variery of sources reflecting their own tastes and interests. The format in the 3rds is similar. The projects include study of one play by Shakespeare as well as topics such as the North American Indians, Beowulf, and Samson and Delilah. In teaching Geits to Thirds, many tasks are left open-ended to cater for more able children. The very best way to gauge achievement is to come to the Senior School and simply look at what the children produce. We should be pleased to arrange that at any time. English GCSE
|
English in the 6th form
|
Post Higher
|
.jpg)
The work done in these years is a fruitful alliance of our aims with the 5-14 Guidelines. Specifically, our mutual explorations of stories, poems and plays move in and out of the fictitious to relocate moral, social and psychological issues in the contemporary world. Discussion and debate lead naturally from this and writing takes account of the many possible responses - children's own stories or poems, letters to newspapers, reports, research in libraries, analysis of style. Our aims are to establish significant affective and cognitive responses to the stimuli we offer and to give children the means to articulate what they discover. Two strategies emerge from this: to base work in common, shared experiences of reading and other media, and to provide specific targets for individuals to stimulate personal achievement..jpg)
The Reading Skills course is an alternative to Latin in the 2nd Year for certain pupils. The aim of the course is to encourage reading for pleasure and to improve reading skills. Higher order reading skills are taught, such as pre-reading, mind-mapping, skimming, scanning, summarising and interpretation..jpg)
The Edinburgh Academy welcomes pupils from overseas and in recent years the student body has included pupils from all over the world, for example from China, Japan, Korea, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, The Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. .jpg)
The Geits are taught in classes - that is to say, we teach mixed ability groups. In order to assist differentiation within the classes we have the option of team teaching with the assistance of Learning Support. Such support is geared to cover the whole range of ability. We have written our own detailed course at this level, taking into account the requirements of 5-14, but adapting these to the terms of our own approach.
We begin preparation for GCSE in our 4ths and, at our discretion, our top set in the 5ths may sit GCSE English in the Autumn before the main diet of exams in the following summer.
.jpg)
In our 6th form many opt for Scottish Higher - which most take in one year - others begin an "A" Level course over two years. "A" Level is taught by team teaching. In this way the talents of all teachers in the department are exploited and students are presented with a variety of approaches. .jpg)
In the second year of the course we have an influx of post Higher students who do the "A" Level in one year. We also have arrangements to teach towards Oxbridge entry.This page is: Edinburgh Academy / curriculum / english / index.htm
