The BGE English course has been designed to be enjoyable and challenging. Each term, pupils will be introduced to a new theme to foster a love of English and high engagement in lessons.

Pupils will learn about approaching language and literature through a critical lens by studying a play, a novel and a selection of poetry. This will be both pre-20th century and contemporary writing. They will also read a variety of non-fiction, including articles, advertisements and diaries.

Pupils will work on a variety of tasks in reponse to literature, to enable understanding and to foster enjoyment of the text. They will be taught how to write a critical essay in reponse to each literature text and this will help prepare them for national qualifications in S4.

Pupils will also be taught how to write creatively. They will work on exercises to help them understand how to establish setting and character, as well as how to use language and sentence structure for impact on the reader. They will learn different ways to structure their creative piece and will explore how to use techniques to add originality and imagination to their work. They will also learn how to craft their own poetry, having analysed published writers' work to help them understand the features of poetry.

Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation will also be an important part of pupils' English studies. They will learn how to find and use information in a text, summarise their own words, and analyse language closely. Literary techniques including simile, metaphor and alliteration will be revised, and new ones will be introduced and practised throughout the course. 

Speaking and Listening is an important part of the English curriculum. Pupils will analyse a variety of speeches and a guest speaker will talk to the class, to help develop pupils' understanding of  how to deliver a successful presentation. Pupils will use this learning to prepare their own presentation which they will deliver either to the class or to a small group of classmates with the teacher assessing.

S1 pupils will spend one period a week in the school library reading ficiton and non-fiction of their choice, guided by their teacher.

To support your child with reading for pleasure, visit the Scottish Book Trust's website where you will see suggested reading lists categorised by age:

https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/reading-and-stories