One of the core dramatists whose work students explore is of course, Shakespeare! We investigate Shakespeare’s language and dramatic storytelling, and discover social, cultural and historical contexts linked to his work (including how, for example, King James’s fascination and suspicion of ‘witches’ influenced Macbeth!). Delving into literary contexts means that our students can draw on their knowledge from many other disciplines too such as History, Geography and Art.
Self-expression is a fundamental aspect of English lessons at The Hermitage Academy and this comes in many different guises. Our students enjoy expressing viewpoints through extended essay writing skills and they also write creatively in a variety of formats for many real-world purposes. We also like to encourage our students to formulate opinions and challenge these through discussion, debate and questioning. Opportunities are provided for students to enjoy and reflect on their own reading too, as well as studying text type conventions, style and the importance of editing and proof reading their writing. In short, students develop and hone their creative, analytical and critical enquiry skills in English, underpinned by an ethos of discovery, resilience and independent thinking.