THE ENGLISH & LIT BLOG: 2011

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

mocks - oh joy!

There will be mocks in January for year 11.
These will take the form of:

1. English lit paper 1hr 30 – OM&M & Inspector Calls – open book

2. Engl lit 2 -1 hr 15 - Poetry – open book – anthologies

3. Eng lang – 2hrs

I recommend purchase of revision guides from CGP:

http://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/pages/books_gcse_english.asp

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

A2 Lear & Oedipus at Stratford

Lear & Oedipus Lectures on Kingship, Blindness, Madness and Parenthood at Stratford - 22nd November 2011

- A valuable and interesting conference coving the two texts side by side thematically.

See links below...

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Controlled Assessment - Macbeth - yr 10

Macbeth CA task is well underway for all pupils.
Please do not fret if you miss a session as pupils will be provided with catch up time. Any pupils not making the grade will be given another opportunity to sit this text.

Moving on...there will be a comparative task with Macbeth and Jekyll & Hyde next on the agenda.
We expect to use the last 2 weeks before Christmas to complete the texts and prepare pupils for the CA task, which they can develop over the holidays in preparation for taking the task in January. Dates to be finalised for this soon.

Please keep abreast of h/w and CA tasks on www.plannerlive.com

Oh What A Lovely War!

The production of Oh What A lovely War at Stantonbury Theatre last week was a great piece of theatre.

The Joan Littlewood creation of satirical musical was as hard hitting now as it would have been in the 60s when it was first produced, especially as it utilised images of war that are current as well as historic and this enabled the pupils to make the connections - political, historical, economic and social across all periods - that of the human cost of war.

The production where all parts (innumerable) were played by 5 extremely talented minstrels took us through the political landscape of developing and dwindling European powers from 1880s to the terrorist attack causing the death of the Archduke and his 'Fat Sofie' that catapulted the alliances into full scale slaughter...

The details of the War years and the political shananigans were played in song and sketch, contrasting enormously with the trench play of Journey's End we saw before half term and made a neat comparison with Blackadder goes Forth which we have also studied.

The pupils could not avoid the connections the production made with our current political landscape...

We look forward to the London lectures we are attending on Wilfred Owen later this month.

AS/A2 trips coming up in November

Date Reminder for year 12 and 13 pupils:

A2 - Lear and Oedipus - Stratford - Tues 22nd - leaving school by car at 9am; return by 6.30 - bring lunch money
A2 Love Lit - Love through the Ages - London - Thurs 24th - meet at school 9.15am or CMK station at 9.30; return by 5.30 CMK pick up- bring train and lunch money
AS War Poetry - Wilfred Owen and voices of WW1 - London - meet at school 9.15am or CMK station at 9.30; return by 5.30 CMK pick up- Tues 29th - bring train and lunch money

Friday, 14 October 2011

A2 literature resources

Well done everyone for a good half term's work...We hope you enjoy the break and come back with loads of fresh ideas...

A2 pupils may like to view the A2 resources over the half term on lit. crit and the canon...

Enjoy!

BH:)

Thursday, 6 October 2011

AS Literature Exam for yr 13 will be on Jan. 12th 2012. See plannerlive for revision.

Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Macbeth Workshop - yr 10 - Weds 12th Oct - Stratford

Just a quick reminder to all that year 10 are off to Stratford on Oct 12th for a study workshop on Macbeth...

We will leave by bus at 8.45 and return to school by 4.45pm.

If the return is delayed, I shall contact the school office and Gareth.

Pupils should wear PE kit - tracksuit and trainers and bring water bottles - plastic only and any snacks.

They should bring pens and paper and their Macbeth texts.

Any ipods or phones will be at their own risk.

Any medication should be brought to school and given to me or Ms Anacootee befotre the trip, clearly labelled, with instructions.

Packed lunch will be provided by school.

Pupils will be accompanied by Mrs Kirwin, Sam Anacootee and Daniel Hutchinson.

Many thanks
Belinda Hunt

Friday, 30 September 2011

Reminder re Information Evening on WW1 Trip to the Trenches - 3rd Oct. 7pm

As a follow up to the meeting, please see attached links...

http://wishistory.co.uk/course/view.php?id=8

http://wishistory.co.uk/course/view.php?id=7

The History and English depts are planning a fantastic 3 day trip to Ypres, Passchendaele and the Somme to bring to life the schemes of work on the First World War which pupils are studying at KS3, for GCSE and for A'level.

We have run this trip before and it is always really exciting to see the students' reactions to the reality of what they have been studying and for them to appreciate the phenominal scale of the action and loss.

The trip is supported by the exam boards as part of the programes of study for History and English at GCSE and A'level and we hope to take all the GCSE historians and A'level literature students as well as any other pupils from years 9-13.

We know that all will all benefit from the experience of standing in cemetaries and shell holes reading memoires, plays and poems resonating through the decades from voices whose lives were forever changed by Politics and who have so become part of our History.

On October 3rd - Monday - at 7pm we are running a presentation to go through the trip logistics and itinerary and it is important that as many people as possible attend this.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Trip to Stratford Upon Avon

A reminder for pupils and parents. On Thursday 29th September Mrs Walker, Mrs Heather, Mrs Marsden and Mr Johnson are taking Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 6th form pupils to Stratford Upon Avon to see A Misummer Night's Dream. We are leaving school at 10.30am, travelling by coach to see a 1.15pm performance. We will arrive back at school at 5.30/5.45pm depeding on traffic.

Resources for World War 1 - useful links....enjoy!

As we are progressing with our studies across all periods of literature, a number of schemes of work from yr 9-13 include aspects of WW1.

Certainly AS/A2 literature pupils will find the below links useful, and as we approach November, these sites are timely reminders for us all.....

We are organising a trip to Ypres and the Somme for February for years 9-13 and a pre-meeting will take place on this on 3rd Oct at 7pm.

Year 12 and 13 are off to the theatre to see Journey's End this afternoon - so watch this space for comments!

AE HOUSMAN - THEIR SHOULDERS HELD THE SKY SUSPENDED http://movehimintothesun.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/epitaph-on-an-army-of-mercenaries-a-e-housman/

Owen - He stumbles, guttering, choking - Dulce et... http://youtu.be/Qts3K3KznN4

Spring Offensive - http://youtu.be/s48SPvy_0QQ

Diary of an Unknown Soldier - https://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/bodleian+library/a+month+at+the+front/4212284/

Pope - http://youtu.be/EQgURNvZt_o
Hardy - http://youtu.be/cwtRj990s8k

Haig's donkeys www.johndclare.net/wwi2_HaigQ3.ppt - www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/greatwar/pdf/g4cs3all.pdf

OWALW - http://youtu.be/CIEwKyxr2bU

Sassoon - I fell into the bottomless mud. So I lost the light - http://www.radix.net/~bbrown/sassoon.html

Sassoon - Rememberance http://youtu.be/e4CIHL1chyA - http://youtu.be/H3_1SS1P92c

Regeneration - Owen and Sassoon meet at Craiglockhart http://youtu.be/FuzRR3jVgS0

Sassoon http://youtu.be/qazHQZAdPdE

footage at Passchendeale http://youtu.be/TGVmOS9yM6M

Rosenberg - Break of Day in the Trenches http://youtu.be/cfxKFNf-sDA

Rupert Brooke - the soldier http://youtu.be/S6wPAp3Gy1E

Alan Seegar - I have a rendezvous with death http://youtu.be/Y11RGjmZRDc

John McRae - In Flanders Fields http://youtu.be/K6BlOkpdkg8

Journey's End http://youtu.be/x-x2_CExhJo

/Blackadder
http://youtu.be/xHJDyAnL9RQ
http://youtu.be/IglUmgYGxLM

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Welcome to WIS

Hello WISKIDS and parents,

Welcome back to the new and exciting beginnings of
The Webber Independent School.

We in the English department hope you had a fantastic summer break and are ready for all the fun awaiting you in English and Drama this term.

Our new department consists of the following members of staff:

Mrs. B. Hunt - Head of Department/KS3, 4 and 5 English

Ms. S. Anacootee - KS3 and 4 English

Mrs. M. Walker - KS3 English

Mrs. H. Heather - KS3 and 4 Drama

This new interactive blog will give you updates and tips on English and Drama teaching and recommend hot websites and links to improve your learning skills.

Please feel free to post appropriate comments that others in school will find useful.

We hope you enjoy your English and Drama studies this term and are looking forward to

Achieving Excellence Together....

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Friends, Nobles, Countrymen...lend me your ears....

How now, spirit! whither wander you?

Welcome to the first blog for the WIS English Department website.....

We look forward to your contributions on all matters literary and will be using the site to communicate with you over not just the mundane administrative issues such as prep and other punishments, but to engage, inspire and share creative ideas...

Over the summer, you may wish to write a diary of your holidays, or write some poems inspired by visiting new places - just as Betjemin found beauty in Slough and Wordsworth in the smog over Industrial London.

For the more analytical, book reviews are also welcomed and don't forget to include the details of the book, author and publisher, so you can inspire everyone else to follow your lead.

"He capers, he dances, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses,
he speaks holiday..."

The first competition for the WIS English blog is: name all the quotes and poems referred to on this site!

Enjoy!

Belinda Hunt
HOD English

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