English is central to every pupil’s life at Beaudesert.  Whether discussing a topic in history or explaining the outcomes of a science experiment, the language used is English.  We promote an accuracy in and love for the subject both orally and on paper throughout the children’s time at school.

Our main endeavour is to inspire a lasting enthusiasm for English; central to that is reading. Through it, we can enhance the necessary and valuable traditional skills as well as fostering creativity and passion for the subject within each child.  Our well-stocked and professionally staffed library is central to the aspiration of helping all pupils see that, far from being a chore, reading is both a great help and enormous fun.

With reading central to the subject both here and later, at senior school, it is important to guide pupils through the vast selection of published novels that are available to them.

Our current Reading List is available from your child’s English teacher.

These lists are by no means mandatory and will be subject to change, addition and amendment as time and literary fashions move on. They are a useful starting point for anyone seeking age-appropriate titles. It is often useful to direct any further research to your local independent book retailer who, unlike Amazon, will be happy and able to make other informed recommendations.

As well as classroom teaching, the English department encourages the children to experience the following:

• Theatre trips
• Declamation competitions
• Debates for senior children
• Author visits
• Arts Festival trips
• Workshops at the RSC
• Visiting speakers
• Termly reading weeks
• Poetry and short story competitions
• Book fairs

A good number of these are arranged by the School during the pupils’ time here; however, visits organised during the holidays can be enormously important in fostering a child’s understanding of and love for the subject.

At Beaudesert Park we undertake standarised testing for reading and spelling.  For reading we use the NGRT (New Group Reading Test) and for spelling we use Parallel Spelling (Young).

Below are some useful web links:

www.mrsmad.com/ (book recommendations and games)
www.poetryarchive.org/ (poems for children)
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ (revision tips)
www.midlandit.co.uk/education/index.htm (creative writing tips)
www.rsc.org.uk/ (what’s on at Stratford)