THE QATAR SHIRBURNIAN
SHERBORNE SENIOR SCHOOL
English This academic year started with a unanimous and collective sigh of relief from both pupils and staff alike when it was announced that face-to-face lessons would commence again after almost two years of blended or online teaching. We settled comfortably into our orange-zoned classrooms in the new school building near MOQ and got on with the job of educating and learning. We also welcomed Mr Chris Martin to the English team and he became the second male staff member ever in the English department! The Year 7 pupils started off in form classes and then moved into sets once they had completed their first assessments and diagnostic reading tests. They seemed to have found their feet over the course of the first term and assimilated quickly into secondary school life. Pupils were introduced to a range of literary genres this year: ranging from poetry to Shakespeare in the form of ‘Macbeth’, autobiographical texts like ‘Boy’ by Roald Dahl, ‘Chinese Cinderella’ by Adeline Yen Mah and finally cross-curricular work with the history department on the slave trade - using the text ‘Freedom’ by Catherine Johnson. For the Year 8 pupils, it was exciting to be able to do some competitive work after so much online learning and the highlight of this was the Dragons’ Den competition where pupils were expected to create and then present a pitch for a new product on the market aimed at teenagers. Pupils were assessed in their sets and then the finalists presented their pitches again in front of a panel of judges, including Senior Leadership Team staff members and the Head Girl. Ivy Tavola was the ultimate winner with her unique spectacles invention. It was decided that the focus of the Year 9 scheme of work this year would be on current issues that affect many young people in other parts of the world; so, the Year 9s started off reading the true story of ‘Iqbal’ – a boy in Pakistan who was a victim of child labour. They ended their academic year by reading ‘Refugee Boy’ by Benjamin Zephaniah and focusing their studies on the plight of child refugees globally. The i/GCSE classes of Years 10 and 11 were happy for the return to normality finally and the prospect of external examinations again. Staff worked incredibly hard, especially with the Year 11 cohort, to get back up to speed and practise the important examination techniques again. Both year groups focused on the language papers and as most pupils take literature too as an additional i/GCSE subject, the literature texts of ‘1984’ by George Orwell and ‘Othello’ by Shakespeare, as well as a range of poems set by the examination board proved challenging and engaging. This year the Year 10 set 1 pupils studied ‘Great Expectations’ by Dickens, while the rest of the year group analysed ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel. We should not forget our Year 11 ESL class who worked steadily on their listening skills and spoken and written English for their final CAIE examinations in all three of these areas. The department also offers two AS and A Level subjects: English language and English literature and the uptake for these subjects was pleasing this year with record numbers of pupils opting to continue their studies in English. Next year, the AS subject General Paper will also be added to the mix. Finally, it is with some sadness that we say goodbye to two staff members: Miss Aliyah Mahomed and Mr Dave Ball. Miss Mahomed is moving over to Sherborne Qatar School for Girls to teach English there from August and Mr Ball, after six years at Sherborne Senior School, is taking up an English post in Panama. We say adieu but not goodbye to Miss Mahomed, as we are certain that as a department, we will still have regular contact with her. We thank her for all her hard work and dedication over the past 18 months. We say a very fond farewell to Mr Ball who some of us have worked with for the duration of his years at Sherborne Senior School. As the only male member of the department for most of his time with us, (and for a long time as the youngest member of the department), he held his own, won our hearts and will be sorely missed. We wish him all the best with his new ventures! Miss Castaldo Head of English
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