These few pages will give you an idea of our work and objectives at Manor Community College. We are a small friendly team of four teachers and two Teaching Assistants. We all share the same goal: help students discover the pleasure of words and language! We propose a great variety of activities to give students the opportunity to expand their vocabulary, discover new books and plenty of possibilities to use English not only in an academic context but also in their daily and future lives.

The department's objectives relate to the Key Stage 3 and 4 Programmes of Study and to the National Literacy Strategy. They are framed by the attainment targets of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing. The students are taught and encouraged to communicate accurately, sensitively, effectively and appropriately in a variety of speaking and listening situations. The reading skills of students are developed and they are enabled to understand beyond the literal and to identify implied meaning. Students are taught to write for purposes with good spelling, punctuation and hand writing. They are taught to write clearly, confidently and fluently in an appropriate style and in a variety of contexts.

The department employs a variety of teaching methods and a wide variety of resources that allow all pupils to have equal access to the curriculum and experience success and enjoyment in their learning.





Innovative Methods
The English department is extremely innovative and all members of staff use new technologies in their lessons. All the classrooms are equipped with digital whiteboards for interactive lessons and access to the Internet. The department has also access to laptop trolleys enabling each student to type their work independently or do some research in class.





Up-To-Date Books
The English department is also proud of its choice of books. Not only do the students work on classic books like Shakespeare or Dickens but they also have a chance to discover brand-new fashionable novels. The books the students read are indeed changed and up-dated regularly to captivate the students even more.




Curriculum Enhancement
The English department also aims at organising events to give a more dynamic vision of English literature to the students. In June 2009, the students of Manor Community College together with students from local primary schools had the great opportunity to meet Cathy Cassidy. They shared the experience of the author in her writing career and could ask her questions about her books and heroes.

Amber: "Meeting Cathy Cassidy was fun and it was nice to know that I'm not the only one that daydreams all time!"

Catherine: "Cathy Cassidy was very helpful and got me interested."


English Enrichment
Students will also have the opportunity to attend English enrichment activity at Manor. Every week, they will take part in writing workshops to discover the pleasure of words by inventing their texts or discovering new documents. A different and more personal approach to literature!



Students' Opinions
Leo, year 7: "The lessons are fun because the teachers make them but it is also educational."

Sophie, year 8: "My favourite thing was acting out a scene from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream."

Kyle, year 8: "The activities of English can be varied or even fun!"

Lauren, year 9: "English is enjoyable, it is varied enough in the stuff we do, which include travel writing. A Midsummer Night's Dream and many more."

Jordan, year 10: "My favourite thing was writing about Pip in Great Expectations."

Sian year 10: "I like learning about different people that wrote books."

Stephanie, year 11: "We try our hardest every lesson."

India, year 11: "I feel that I have progressed over the 5 years with having different teachers each year."






Useful Links for English
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/11_16/site/english
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english
www.englishbiz.co.uk/
www.gcse.com/english/there.htm



English GCSE
Students at Manor have the opportunity to take two GCSEs in English: English language and English literature. Both exams give students the chance to explore a variety of texts ranging from Shakespeare, to Steinbeck or Maupassant to non-fiction texts. Students are assessed both on coursework and final exams on four different skills reading, writing, speaking and listening. We push the gifted and talented students to achieve even more taking early sessions exams or even preparing an AS in English literature to prepare them to college.

Rewards System
We all think that rewarding students is extremely important to motivate them to work always more. On top of the school system of rewards, the English department has its own reward system. Every term we send postcards to the students who have achieved particularly well during the lessons.

We are also eager to celebrate all the efforts made by our students. To do so we regularly display the works of 'Our Star' student.

Students' Work
Students produce a great variety of work in English. Ranging from reading texts, to writing inventive stories or speeches, or the creation of various leaflets... they have the opportunity to practice their English in many contexts using traditional and innovative techniques. Have a look at examples of what students can do in English at Manor!

Catherine, year 9:
Hastings

Gigantic! The castle stood in front of me as tall as a giant almost touching the sky.

Noisy! The sea moving in and out.

Smooth! This is what you feel when you touch the sand as smooth as a baby's skin.



Imran, year 7:





The Library
Reading for pleasure is also extremely important for the English Department. Students have the opportunity to go to the library regularly during English lessons to discover books independently. Students are encouraged to choose books depending on their hobbies and tastes. They can then report their reading to the class and carry on their reading experience at home.