Literacy at Enfield Grammar School has a ‘whole school approach’, with close connections to the English department. The ability to read, write, and communicate effectively is an ongoing life skill that we teach, both implicitly and explicitly, in lessons.
Across the school, all written work is literacy marked focusing on the student’s spelling, punctuation and grammar and students are expected to respond to this feedback. They are also encouraged in lessons to use their ‘Proof Reading Checklist’ to self-correct and edit their written work.
Literacy is not just about ‘SPAG’ (Spelling, Punctuation And Grammar)! It also encompasses reading, therefore, we have strong links with the Library / LRC (Learning Resource Centre). Together, we have created;
- Reading challenges for Years 7-9
- Form time reading boxes for the Lower School
- Form time reading activities
- Promotion of the Head Teacher’s reading competition
- Support for the 6th Form Summer Reading Club
- Library and year group book clubs
Literacy Curriculum
Key Stage 3 – students have a dedicated literacy lesson.
Year 7 students have access to an online literacy platform called Literacy Planet. This platform allows students to practise all areas of literacy, through a series of engaging levels, challenges and games. Their English teachers also have access to this in order to set specific tasks targeted at their classes and their students’ needs.
Year 8 students have these lessons transferred into the classroom to revise and consolidate their learning of key spelling, punctuation and grammar skills.
In addition, KS3 also has a dedicated library lesson, where students are able to explore the library; return and take out books using their library ID and to engage in reading discussion tasks. This lets the boys expand enjoyment of reading and promotes talking about their experiences of reading.
Key Stages 4 and 5 – During the upper Key Stages, students are encouraged to practise their literacy skills, use the library to advance their knowledge and stretch themselves in their chosen subjects.
At EGS, we continue to find new ways to engage the students with literacy and the library… so watch this space!
Year 7 Reading Challenge!
Get ahead! How many of these books can you read in year 7?
- The Thief Lord – Cornelia Funke
- Goodnight Mr Tom – Michelle Magorian
- Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer
- Welcome to the World of Norm – Jonathon Myers
- The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
- The Boy in Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne
- Liar & Spy – Rebecca Stead
- Bzrk – Michael Grant
- My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher
- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Books: Animal Farm by George Orwell and Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
Year 9 Book Club
Books: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Year 9 and 10 BookFlix Reading Club
6th Form Book Club Challenge 2020-21
Try and read as many books as you can from the image below;
2021
2020
September 2020
October 2020
November 2020
December 2020
Click here to view Our Favourite Books
2020/21 Staff CPD: Reading Focus & Strategies
Staff used the final session of Drive to Fly (part of our CPD staff programme) to reflect on the reading focus for this year and various reading strategies that have been discussed.
Each department was taught two lessons from other subjects which were created for
KS3/4 to bring fiction reading into all subjects. We tried to ensure that each
department had subjects that were quite different to their own in order to
bring variety to the sessions.
English saw two incredible reading lessons from Science and Geography, Humanities were immersed in MFL and P.E., Science partook in some Citizenship and D.T. etc. Teachers were engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the sessions – learning about other subjects as well as gaining new techniques around reading that they could bring into their future lessons.
Feedback was shared at the end of each mini lesson, which departments can bring forward
into their future planning.
Transition Read-a-Thon 2021 – Year 6 to 7
Literacy Planet – March 2021
Favourite quotes from our English Department:
Ms Rudolph “This above all; to thine own self be true.” -Hamlet (Polonius: Act 1 scene 3)
Ms Yuksel “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” – As You Like It (Jacques: Act 2 scene 7)
Ms Foxley “Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in it!” – The Tempest (Miranda: Act 5 scene 1)
Ms Gwatkin “How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” – The Merchant of Venice (Portia: Act 5 scene 1)
Mr Hurley “If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wish’d for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.” – Henry IV Part One (Prince Henry: Act 1 scene 2)
Short Story Competition – Spring Term 2021
Leukaemia Cancer Society – ‘The Day everything Changed’
Fancy putting pen to paper and entering this competition…? Please let Miss Print know if you do.
#worldbookday2021
Author, Penny Joelson, Virtual Visits – March 2nd & 15th 2021
We are delighted to announce that author, Penny Joelson, is going to virtually visit Enfield Grammar School in honour of World Book Day 2021.
Penny will be virtually visiting the school to join online classes for our year 9 pupils.
Please advise your son of the following times:
Tuesday 2nd March 2021:
Year 9 classes 9X/EN1, 9X/EN3, 9X/EN4 & 9Y/EN3 – please go to your timetabled google classroom (online) for Period 3 – Presentation – 11.05am.
Monday 15th March 2021: If year 9 are back in school – go to your timetabled lessons
(If year 9 are not back in school – Year 9 classes 9X/EN2, 9Y/EN1 & 9Y/EN2 – please go to your timetabled google classroom (online) for Period 4a – Presentation – 12.05pm.)
Penny writes Young Adult thrillers and mystery novels, these are are all told from the viewpoints of unusual protagonists whose voices are often not heard….:-
Things the Eye Can’t See (Egmont 2020)
The Girl Who Wasn’t There/ Girl in the Window (Sourcebooks Fire 2020/ Egmont 2018)
I Have No Secrets (Egmont 2017/Sourcebooks Fire 2019)
International men’s Day – 19th November 2020
Reflecting on what it is like to be a man in 2020
National Poetry Day – 1st October 2020
Literacy Planet Certificate of Achievement – July 2020
Yay! We’ve received a congratulations & certificate from Literacy Planet!
Our EGS English Dept has been using this online literacy platform with KS3 classes; our boys have mow completed over 3,000 exercises!
Amazing feedback and wonderful that our students have been engaging.
World Book Day – 4th March 2020
This year’s World Book Day was a great success at EGS! Lots of subjects took a lesson off timetable to spend the day reading around their subjects and building up their cultural capital through reading.
In English, classes were challenged to decide, ‘Can you judge a book by its cover?’ by looking at classical literature with ‘boring’ covers and trying to use their detective skills to work out the plots. In Geography, some classes read ‘Horrible Geography’ books and used them to widen their knowledge about volcanoes. In Food Tech, the students used recipe books to try to find and create the best burger recipe!
We also held a school wide staff dress up competition! The students loved exploring around the school sites to find the famous book characters and to expand their literary knowledge. Well done to our winners and runners up!
Poet’s Visit
As part of WBD 2020, we were fortunate enough to have Adisa, a renowned poet and spoken word artist, visit the school to deliver writing workshops for a selection of Year 7-9 students. The boys thoroughly enjoyed listening to his poems, receiving guidance on their writing and performing their poems from the workshop.
