About the English Department

The Langton English Department is vibrant and academically-focused, but also fun and friendly: an environment in which serious research and the love of literature coexist. A very well-qualified and diverse team, we seek to communicate our love of the written word to our students - challenging them to become critics and creators in their turn. Housed in five classrooms, and within striking distance of the library, the department is at the heart of Langton school life.

The KS3 curriculum is overseen by two members of the team (2nds in English), and includes a wide range of texts and authors. Modern and canonical poetry, modern and Shakespearean drama, classic and contemporary fiction, and a range of non-fiction texts are explored across the six teaching terms – leading to summer and end-of-unit assessments which seek to probe boys’ weaknesses, and encourage their creativity. All KS3 groups have timetabled library lessons, and all lower school students are supported by intervention from the Faculty of Support and Guidance, where needed. From Year 8, and into Year 9, students are streamed by ability, and there is some expectation that those boys in the top sets in Year 9 will migrate to the top sets for GCSE.

We currently follow the AQA GCSE specification for Literature (8702) and the AQA Language syllabus (8700). The setting at KS4 is organised across six groups, with two top, middle and lower sets in each teaching block. These latter groups tend to be smaller than the others, and this approach means that weaker students can receive the support and attention they need. Although the scheme of work allows for innovation, we teach the same core texts, as this helps with assessments and standardising across the cohort. Set texts for the 2020-22 course will include Macbeth, Jekyll and Hyde, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, plus a range of unseen poetry and non-fiction material.

A popular A-Level study choice, there are typically fifty students taking A Level Literature each year – some of whom pursue further literary study at Oxbridge or other Russell Group universities. We teach the new Edexcel (2015) course, and this year have studied Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, Shelley’s (1831) Frankenstein, Stoker’s Dracula, Wilde’s Dorian Gray, Webster’s Malfi, Hamlet, a selection of post-2000 poetry from the Forward anthology, plus a selection of Keats’ and Larkin’s verse. Projected coursework texts include Paradise Lost, Dr Faustus, Glengarry Glen Ross and Death of a Salesman.

A department which likes to innovate, promote and challenge, recent guest speakers have included Prof. Carol Ann Duffy, Dr David Starkey, Simon Armitage, Dr Ros Barber, Prof. Ken Pickering of MARSOC and Andy McNab. We participate in various poetry events each year, and there have been several successful poetry workshops coordinated by members of the department and the University of Kent at Canterbury.

The successful applicant for this post will be required to teach throughout KS3, KS4 and A Level. The post is equally suitable for an experienced teacher or an NQT. We are looking to appoint a teacher with excellent subject knowledge who can communicate their enthusiasm for English to our students. The teacher appointed will be someone who will enjoy being part of a team which is committed to the further development of good practice in the teaching of this key subject, and we would hope that the successful candidate would also be able to contribute to the extra-curricular opportunities offered in English.

Dr Christian Taylor

Head of English