English

Children develop individually by learning to express themselves.  Through language they learn not only how to reason but also to become aware of and examine feelings, enabling empathy with others.  This helps them to make the successful friendships essential for their well-being and prepares them for inevitable times of contention.  At Bishopsgate we see it as our duty to ensure that the pupils encounter as many emotions and situations as possible through literature and role-play.  Learning to empathise is a key skill throughout the school curriculum and is essential if children are to be good creative writers and able to perform well in comprehension exercises. 

At Bishopsgate, we work hard to nurture every child’s creative abilities and to teach everyone how important it is to be descriptive, to create a vivid atmosphere and, most importantly, to make their work unique.  The children are encouraged to develop their own style, bearing in mind at all times that their mission is to grip the attention of the reader, entertain them for the duration of the whole piece of work, and, if possible, to leave the reader wanting more.  This is achieved using a wide variety of stimuli.  Annual English Weeks form one part of these.  This year's theme was 'What A Performance' and included workshops on Clowning and Puppetry. 

Since all children on the curriculum need language competence, opportunities are provided for children to acquire skills in thinking, understanding, evaluating, discussing and writing.  In today’s world it is vital to be able to communicate with fluency, accuracy, clarity and confidence.  English is a language for use throughout the pupils’ lives and therefore we look to prepare the children as much as possible for the times ahead.  At Bishopsgate, the children are encouraged to be self- motivated and independent, and to develop their own points of view on life’s issues.   Most of all we want them to enjoy experimenting with language to find the most vivid and effective ways of expressing what they want to say.  Our work is directed to guiding all of our pupils to achieve their full potential.  Great pride in the presentation of their work is a key element of this.  

Nick Harman
Head of English