The mission of the English Department at Thomas Becket Catholic School is to:
- Cultivate understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of the English language, its speakers and writers and its literature and cultures.
- Aspire our students to use the language creatively, critically and effectively at an ‘Oxbridge standard’ to participate ethically in civic and professional life.
- Provide our students with access to a range of Literature in order to foster creative and critical abilities, promote multiculturalism and tolerance in a globalised world.
- Instil an appreciation of a cultural, historical, ethical, aesthetic linguistic force that shapes our lives, whilst also nurturing an inquisition for the English language, its history, conventions, structures and uses.
- Provide opportunities to merge the art of creative and transactional writing with literary insight which will provide a hands-on experience that will empower our students to respond to human experience in a changing world.
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
The English department follows the AQA syllabus and offers students the opportunity to gain two qualifications by the end of the course - English Language and English Literature.
The English Language qualification consists of two papers, both equal in weighting. Each paper consists of a reading section (based on unseen extracts) and a writing section. Students can achieve grades 1-9 in English Language.
- Paper 1: Explorations in Creative reading and writing
- Paper 2: Exploring writers’ viewpoints and perspectives
The English Literature qualification also consists of two papers. At TBCS, our students study Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Power and Conflict poetry and unseen poetry. Students can achieve grades 1-9 in English Literature.
- Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel
- Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry