Our Philosophy
The primary aim of the English Department at TVA is to ensure that those who come to learn in our department progress in their English skills in such a way that they reach their maximum potential. We believe in nurturing a positive attitude towards learning and we encourage our students to strive for excellence, value achievement and have a self belief in their own abilities. All students are encouraged to see themselves as poets, linguists, critics or writers, and we challenge them to develop their expertise in all these areas. We hope that students leaving TVA will have enjoyed their experience in English and will nurture the interests and enthusiasms that they have developed with us. We also aim to ensure that the range of skills which students will have developed in English will have equipped them for the world beyond school.
The Team
The experienced, specialist departmental team is committed to providing excellence in learning and in raising achievement. The team is also committed to maintaining the high expectations and positive ethos that TVA values. The English Department at TVA has 8 full-time English teachers all of whom are experts in delivering excellent lessons.
The English Department has also been dedicated to staff development and to TVA’s status as a Training School. Staff are also developed professionally by being given the opportunity to extend their teaching experiences and skills and colleagues are often involved with teaching and staff development. The team also regularly work with a number of students on PGCE and GTP courses.
The Curriculum
The department delivers just over 3 hours of teaching to all in Key Stages 3 and 4.
At Key Stage 3 we deliver the National Curriculum in as varied and stimulating a way as possible. There are comprehensive and detailed departmental schemes of work and we, as a department, encourage teachers’ individuality and expertise to operate within this structure.
Similarly, we strive to make attainment at Key Stage 3 as high as is possible, and to this end we use Hodder Interactive English. This is an innovative new course for planning and delivering the new Key Stage 3 curriculum.
Interactive English provides multi-media resources that are easy to use and suitable for pupils of all abilities. These resources can be easily combined with a teacher’s own material, thus giving the teacher the freedom to individualise the lessons as they wish. It covers the full range and content of the new Programme of Study and the renewed Framework from the Secondary National Strategy, so all teachers can be confident that they are meeting all the new requirements. Likewise, you, as a parent, can be confident that your child’s needs are being met adequately and professionally.