The English Faculty
Bit by bit, I told him the day’s misfortunes: “… and she said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever read any more, ever. Please don’t send me back, please sir.” Atticus stood up and walked to the end of the porch.
“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” — Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
English at Peponi School is as exciting and diverse as the subject itself, where the worlds of literature are entered into and celebrated, while the precise focus of language is crafted and explored. We see our classrooms as energetic spaces, where pupils are welcomed to speak their mind while remaining respectful of the voices of others; where the greatest lesson of literature is valued: that of stepping into the shoes and skins of others to understand the world from a variety of perspectives. Our hope is to instill in our pupils a love of stories while learning to view our surroundings from different points of view, promoting tolerance, patience and courage through this skill.
Literature and Language are studied from Shell (Year 9) to Fifth Form ( Years 10 and 11), resulting in separate IGCSE examinations. However, although they might be examined separately, the two disciplines are not necessarily approached as such in the classroom, and are often integrated so that one might inform the other – within the stories explored and analysed, the techniques of language are highlighted and studied. The school presents a number of texts of every type of literature in preparation for the examinations; be it the novel, short story, poetry or drama. Through these, the pupils are introduced to a multitude of works, a love of reading is sought and nurtured, while observing, and remaining conscious of, the approach, intentions and subtlety of the writing. In this way, the skills of English are developed.
At A Level, Peponi School follows the more focused A Level Literature. Naturally, this is a step higher than previously studied, requiring pupils to engage with more challenging texts, on a deeper and more analytical level, demanding reading and research outside of that required. Our hope is to build upon what was attained at IGCSE and to go beyond the enjoyment of a story and into an appreciation of all texts. Again, Peponi School chooses a variety of set works from around the world, providing a good opportunity to study a wide range of literature throughout history.
The School follows the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) curriculum at all levels.
There are strong links between the English and Drama Faculty and productions have included performances of the delightful Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, Wilde’s thought-provoking The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom Stoppard’s comical-yet-twisty The Real Inspector Hound. The School has a long history of high quality, challenging productions that are enjoyed by the School and wider community every year.
The English faculty is also linked with the Learning Support Faculty (Crane) which provides additional support for pupils of all abilities with Special Education Needs (SEN), from Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) to Gifted and Talented Pupils.
Pupils are also encouraged to make good use of our excellent library, which has a wide collection of fiction, non-fiction and reference books and an extensive collection of recent academic interest magazines.
Fiction is something you build up from twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world, and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed. – Neil Gaiman