Our Principles and Aims

Our school has just finished an official Whole School Evaluation - an affirming and invigorating experience. Part of this involves inspections of subject department plans, and we thought on World Teachers' Day it would be good to reproduce here the page on our Principles and Aims.

Here they are:-

• To encourage in our pupils enthusiasm for and a love of English literature and language.

• To help them become life-long readers.

• To develop expressive and efficient writing skills.

• To understand the importance of planning work, and rereading/revising it.

• To encourage pupils to produce creative work, including fiction and poetry, outside the bounds of their academic syllabi.

• To help pupils develop confidence in their speaking skills.

• To help them become critically-aware about the use of language in the world around them.

• To integrate learning and teaching of language and literature.

• To prepare our pupils thoroughly and professionally for their state examinations, and help them reach their potential, including those with learning difficulties.

• To teach in a co-ordinated way, and share best practice, but also to allow space for individual teaching styles.

• To encourage participation and discussion in lessons, particularly through effective questioning, and to guard against excessively teacher-led classes. Classroom layouts enhance this.

• To mark pupils’ work carefully and intensively, concentrating on areas of improvement. This is very time-intensive, and it can be particularly difficult due to the demands of a 24/7 boarding school, but is vital.

• To encourage thorough but always pertinent note-taking in class and private study.

• To further these aims in an organised, structured way as pupils move through the school and mature.

• To showcase outside lecturers, writers and other guests with an interest in English.

• To expose pupils to as much good professional theatre as possible.

• To maintain a strong culture of improvement, to stretch ourselves as teachers, and to guard against complacency, particularly by being constantly reflective on our practices and purposes.

• To use digital technology where appropriate to further these aims.