English
Our Team
Mrs P. McCarroll
Head of Department
Miss C. Dinsmore
Literacy Coordinator
Mrs O Keenan
Teacher
Mrs H Shields
Teacher
Mrs J Mc Loughlin
Teacher
Our Department
Our department aims to:
- Create an environment in which pupils are encouraged to succeed and reach their potential;
- enable pupils to develop their skills in reading, writing, talking and listening;
- enable pupils to work independently and as part of a team;
- meet the requirements of the Northern Ireland curriculum.
Pupils have opportunities to appreciate and use language for a range of functional and creative purposes. They engage with peers, poetry, prose, drama, non-fiction, media and multimedia to become critical, creative and effective communicators.
Key Stage 3
In Years 8-10 pupils follow a programme of study based on the Northern Ireland Curriculum. Units of Work aim to prepare all pupils for KS4 study.
Year 8
All About Me
Fiction and Non-Fiction
Wonder by RJ Palacio
An Introduction to Poetry
An Introduction to Shakespeare – Macbeth
Gothic genre
Year 9
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by J. Boyne
Mystery and Suspense
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Ballads
An Introduction to Newspapers
Reading Literary Texts
Year 10
Pre-20th Century Fiction
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
War Poetry
Reading Multi-Modal Texts
The Study of Spoken Language
Creative Writing
Writing for Purpose and Audience
GCSE
The GCSE English Language course gives students the opportunity to enjoy the experience of exploring the English Language and its literature. The syllabus is designed to develop confidence and competence in talking and listening, reading and writing.
Students will read from a range of novels, poetry and drama as well as non-literary and media texts. They will engage in writing in a broad and interesting range of styles and forms.
The GCSE Specification consists of 4 units:
Unit 1: Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-Fiction and Media Texts
External written examination – 1 hour 45 minutes 30%
Unit 2: Speaking and Listening
Controlled Assessment 20%
Unit 3: Studying Spoken and Written Language
Controlled Assessment 20%
Unit 4: Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-Fiction Texts
External written examination – 1 hour 45 minutes 30%
Extra Curricular Activities
Theatre trips in line with literature studied at GCSE.
Annual Book Fair
Reading Week to tie in with World Book Day
Selfie Reading Challenge
Book Buzz – a reading programme specifically developed by children’s reading charity BookTrust to encourage young people to read for pleasure.
Annual ‘ReadOn’ event – ReadOn is Cancer Fund for Children’s school reading initiative that encourages Year 8 pupils to read for fun and raise money for a worthwhile cause.
Career Pathways
GCSE English is an essential entry requirement for high study and employment.
English is good for any job that involves communication, writing and/or literary knowledge.
These include: advertising, marketing, writing and journalism, law, consultancy, business, teaching, performing arts, academia, government, linguistics, foreign languages, media and design.
English Literature
Newry High also provides English Literture as a GCSE and A-Level Subject. To have a look at what that entails please click the button below: