English Lessons Soar at Stoke College

We hear from Mrs Becca Parsons as she reviews her first term as Head of English at Stoke College.

Key Stage 3

Mrs Parsons, new Head of English at Stoke College, reviews the summer term for Key Stage 3 English.

Year 7s have immersed themselves in the fundamentals of stories via the medium of Lego, Pixar short films and Disney characters. They now have an excellent knowledge of how stories are structured (ask them about Freytag’s Pyramid!) and have proved themselves to be wonderfully creative writers.

Heroes and villains have been top of the bill for Year 8 students: we’ve been looking at what makes a hero, some heroic (and not-so heroic) characters in Shakespeare, and will be moving on to look at more modern heroes and heroines, such as Katniss Everdeen and the heroes of war poetry, in the final weeks of term.

Year 9 have worked hard on honing their writing craft this term, both creatively and persuasively. We’ve looked at the elements of great persuasive rhetoric and put these to use in drafting speeches on topics we are passionate about.

Key Stage 4

Year 10 have spent this term looking at the Power and Conflict Anthology poems as well as refreshing our ‘A Christmas Carol’ knowledge ready for the end of year exams. All students will be given some preparatory tasks to complete over the summer so that we are ready to launch into our modern play as soon as we come back: ‘An Inspector Calls’ - a play about politics, striking workers and improving the lives of people struggling with the cost of living. For some, this will strike a chord with the current political landscape.

Year 11 have been busily working away at revising for their GCSE examinations and we have been extremely proud of the way they have conducted themselves throughout this process. Well done, Year 11!

Stoke Summer Reads

We asked Mrs Parsons to recommend some brilliant books to read over the long summer holiday.

This is a bit of a stereotypical choice for an English teacher, I know, but on my long but beautiful commute to Stoke College this term I have really enjoyed listening to the (free) audio version of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I am growing particularly fond of Pip and each morning I look forward to hearing about his coming of age in and around London in the mid nineteenth century.

If Dickens isn’t your thing then perhaps About Grace by Anthony Doerr might be? Doerr is famed for his later novel, All The Light We Cannot See - a truly magnificent book - but About Grace is his first and it deals with identity, family and finding solace. It had me gripped at times, and reflective at others - what makes a family and what does it take to heal from the unknown?