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English

Our vision is to ensure our learners become self-assured communicators, readers and writers equipped to thrive in life outside our school. Our learners will experience a wide range of texts, taught through our delivery of the English National Curriculum, including Shakespearian texts, Victorian literature and a range of texts that include knowledge of changing cultures through the years up to contemporary literature. The texts our learners study aim to advance their social, cultural and emotional understanding and does this through the study of writers from the Literary Canon to contemporary writers.  We also encourage our learners to access a wide range of factual reading and non-fiction texts to prepare them for life and the world of work, helping them to form intellectual opinions on a wide range of topics.

 

Students’ oracy is developed throughout their learning journey at Burnley High School. This is delivered in a variety of ways, which include opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond English. Students are encouraged to develop their oracy by sharing their ideas through discussions, speaking & listening tasks and presentations. The development of their spoken language allows them to become effective communicators, not only in school but also in the wider community.

 

Development and explicit teaching of vocabulary is a key element of our intent, which is built into every scheme of learning which our staff deliver.  We aim to close the vocabulary gap by developing mastery of a wide range of ambitious terminology through both reading and writing. Students are provided with regular opportunities to develop their extended writing which will enhance their creativity and functional writing.

 

Students are encourage to not just learn English, but to develop a love of learning within the subject. Our schemes of work are adapted to ensure that students have a good understanding of current issues around the world. The key focus is to ensure each student has a strong cultural awareness to enhance their ability to understand the world around them and encourage them to prepare for life after school and become well-rounded individuals.  

Road Maps:

Please note,  every subject exercise book your child has contains a subject ‘Burnley High Road Map’ that outlines the content covered, timelines and assessment points for the current year.

I love BHS because it really does feel like a family. All staff and students know each other, are extremely supportive of one another and show amazing levels of respect throughout the school. There really isn’t another school like it!”

Miss Yates