The Guide:

 

This guide is designed to inform you about the work of the English Department and what your child will be doing at any one stage of her / his college career.

 

Aims:

The English Department at Doha College has the special responsibility to develop the English language skills of all of our students.  Language plays a key role in all areas of the curriculum and a crucial role in many.  Consequently, the English curriculum aims to enhance the speaking and listening, reading and writing skills of all students and, for those in Years 9 to 13, fully prepare them for external examination assessment.   It is difficult to state that one language skill is more important than another but much of the study which your child will be engaged in will relate to the reading and writing components of the four language skills.

 

Key Stage 3:

As with all other departments, the English Department follows a curriculum based on the National Curriculum for England and Wales.

All Key Stage 3 students (those in Years 7 to 9) follow common topic-based courses which last approximately half a term.  In addition to the study which students will undertake in connection with these, they will also be following a programme of language skills, a programme of spelling skills and reading a class ‘reader’ - this will usually be a novel.

 As far as possible, students have the same teacher for all of their lessons and some classes have additional teachers to provide support in lessons.

 

Some of the units which students will undertake in Years 7 to 9 are;

My Autobiography;  Theseus and the Minotaur;  Christmas and other Festivals;  The Weather and the Seasons;  Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales;  The Origins of English;  An Introduction to Shakespeare - ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’;  People and the Environment;  Shakespeare - ‘Macbeth’;  Media and an N.C.T. (National Curriculum Test) preparation programme.

 

Key Stage 4 - Years 10 and 11:

Students in Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) follow courses leading to GCSE or IGCSE qualifications in English and English Literature.  Because of the international nature of the College, we offer GCSE courses for the majority students for whom English is a first language or those whose competence makes it appropriatein GCSE English and GCSE English Literature.  A small minority of students for whom English is a second language follow IGCSE English as a Second Language. 

To sum up, the courses currently available are:

GCSE English.

GCSE English and GCSE English Literature.

IGCSE English as a Second Language.

 

English in the Sixth-form:

In the Sixth-form, students may continue their English studies by studying English Literature to A/S (Advanced Subsidiary) Level or A/S and A2 (the full Advanced Level).  Many students proceed to study English Literature or related courses at university.  The number of students opting to study English Literature in the sixth-form has increased in recent years and there are now two classes in both Year 12 and Year 13.

 

GCSE and GCE Course Outlines - WORD document

 

Entry and Assessment:

Students join us from a few main feeder schools in Doha and from many other institutions worldwide.  The result of National Curriculum Tests sat in the last year of the primary school and Cognitive Ability Tests sat prior to entry into Year 7, along with any other assessment information available, are utilised to place students into ability-based classes.  Students may later be moved from the class in which they have been placed if it is thought appropriate.  Such movement will usually only take place at the end of the academic year to avoid undue disruption.

At the end of each academic year in Key Stage 3, students are tested in English National Curriculum Tests which are the same tests sat by the majority of Year 9 students in the U.K..  The results of these tests inform the decisions about which class a student will be placed in for the following academic year or which GCSE / IGCSE course/s it would be best for him / her to follow.

 

Homework:

Students are given homework for English every week.  This will usually involve some written work.  It may also involve reading, undertaking research, learning spellings or redrafting assignments.

Students may submit written work which has been word-processed or desk-top published but this is certainly not essential.  At certain times, students will be required to hand-write responses especially in the period leading up to formal assessments.  It will be very useful for students to have access to a dictionary and a thesaurus and a quiet place to undertake home study.             

 

The Language Skills:

 

Speaking and Listening:

Most of the work which goes on in the department pertains to reading and writing.  It is a fact, however, that pupils may not be involved in reading and writing activities every day of their lives.  It is highly likely, however, that they will engage in speaking and listening activities.  Oral communication forms an essential part of the learning process across the whole curriculum. Therefore, speaking and listening activities designed to enhance these language skills feature in your child’s English lessons.

 

Reading:

Literature - wide reading and a broad experience of valued literature is essential to developing appreciation for the English language and the range of thoughts and feelings which may be expressed  through the written word.

 

It is almost a truism that those children with the greatest facility for language are the most willing readers.  Indeed, reading is probably the most effective means of enhancing the language skills of comprehension, sentence construction, vocabulary, spelling and expression apart from its potential for cognitive development.  Therefore, we regard the work of the library as crucial to our fundamental aims of developing reading abilities and related language skills.

 

Shakespeare - we are fortunate in being users of the language which has the very finest literary traditions and works.  Amongst these, Shakespeare is ranked at the very pinnacle.  Therefore your child will read at least three Shakespeare texts between Years 7 and 11 and quite possibly more, especially if she / he continues to study English Literature at A/S or A2 Level.

 

Writing

This comprises many different areas and skills.  For example, writing includes the writing of extended narrative, discussions, arguments, personal accounts, letters, diaries and reports amongst others.  It also encompasses the construction of sentences and paragraphs; drafting and redrafting; punctuation; spelling; presentation and IT skills and handwriting.  There are many more.  We teach pupils to produce clear and accurate written work which is suited to audience and purpose.

 

The English Department and the library: 

Pupils also follow a library skills programme through their English lessons.  This involves pupils spending one lesson per week in the library to develop library and research skills and undertake the ‘WRAP’ scheme.  This is the Wider Reading Achievement Programme whereby students keep a record of books which they have read to achieve certificates of attainment. 

 

Drama:

Drama encompasses fundamental questions of language, interpretation and meaning.  These features of language are at the very core of what we do as English teachers and hence Drama is seen as an extension of what is done in the English classroom as well as being a  subject with its own academic integrity and discipline.  The subject has unique potential to enhance those aspects of communication beyond merely reading or talking such as gesture, posture, facial expression and movement.  English teachers may well incorporate practical drama sessions into the teaching of literature on occasions.

 

 

Exam Results 2005: