English Faculty

Encompassing English Language, English Literature and Media Studies; the English Faculty are united in striving to enable our students to discover more about the world and their identity within that world. The engagement of our students is such that we have consistently surpassed the national average and Hertfordshire GCSE boys’ performance in English for the last 10 years.

Students will learn about real life and real experiences; it is about the digital world; and it is about the skills that people use every day to succeed in all walks of life. We aim to provide our students with skills to help them to develop and refine their character, whilst respecting and embracing others, ultimately becoming the best version of themselves that they can be. Students explore and debate topics that matter to them and to the world they live in; they are given opportunities to express themselves through debates, essays, author workshops and writing competitions.
Whether through literature, or creative digital media productions, our students are on a journey towards new knowledge and deeper understanding with engaging opportunities for investigation, discovery, analysis and deconstruction. Our aim is to go beyond the ordinary and allow our students to project themselves into invented, unfamiliar or fictional experiences, through reading about them and creating them for themselves.
Through the study of English Language, Literature and Media Studies, we encourage our students to have the courage and confidence to be able to rise to Mahatma Gandhi’s challenge to ‘be the change you wish to see in the world.’

Reading:

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.

Reading is at the heart of what we do at Verulam. It is essential for our students to engage with a range of reading from non-fiction to poetry to classic and modern fiction.
Students in Year 7 to Year 11 are expected to engage with Sparx Reader and to read regularly. At Verulam we have regular reading challenges set by our Librarian and students are expected to engage with these.
Students in Years 7 & 8 have Library lessons once a fortnight. In these lessons boys have the opportunity to change their library book and to engage with a range of comprehension exercises and enjoy time for reading for pleasure.

Handwriting and spelling:

Students are expected to have ‘book pride’ and present work neatly in their exercise book. This includes underlining titles with a ruler and including the date for each lesson. Students must write in full sentences using appropriate capital letters and punctuation. This is a habit that will stand them in good stead in exams and life.

• English KS3 2026 to 2027 download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineEnglish KS3 2026 to 2027
• English KS4 2026 to 2027 download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineEnglish KS4 2026 to 2027
• English KS5 2026 to 2027 download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineEnglish KS5 2026 to 2027