English at Blundell's
- Recommended reading list for all years: this is a PDF document and will open in a new window.
- Exam Results (A-Level and GCSE)
Aims
At Blundell's the aim is to develop and reinforce competence in written and spoken English for all, to encourage the reading habit and the love of literature, to promote public speaking and creative writing and to achieve the highest possible grades in public exams. We aim to help pupils develop a critical appreciation of writing and speech, to foster their interest in their own writing in a wide variety of forms, and to give them a historical sense of the language and literature of the past.
All English teachers are enthusiastic readers and the syllabus follows their interests and enthusiasms rather than a dogmatic, centrally-dictated scheme. Authors studied range from the Classics to Carol Ann Duffy and "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" for A-level, and "Great Expectations" to "Goodnight Mr Tom" for juniors. A high value is placed on creative work and class projects are frequently displayed in the English corridor.
The five English classrooms are clustered in one corridor at the very heart of the school, right next to the Library and an I.T. suite. The extensive book stock is kept on open shelves in the classrooms, to which all pupils have free access. Every classroom has its own multimedia PC and digital projector, tape recorder, TV and video recorder.
Extra-Curricular Literary Pursuits
"The Blundellian": The Annual School Magazine, produced by a team of staff and pupils. A valuable forum for student creative, journalistic and photographic work.
The Newsboard: A large display area where pupils may try their hand at more 'instant' journalism
The Debating Society: Meets six times a year in the Library. We enter the Observer Mace Debating Competition annually, as well as the ESU Public Speaking Competitions.
The School House Debating Society: Meets monthly
The School House Declamations: A competition for all of School House (SH) in February.
The Inter-house Public Speaking Competition takes place each year in the Spring term, on ESU lines. There is a Junior and Senior Shield. The Inter-house Public Speaking Competition is for all years and takes place in the autumn term.
The Poetry Society: Meets occasionally to read poetry, dress up in silly costumes and discuss literary topics.
The Book Group: meets monthly to discuss favourite books.
English Exam Results, 2008
A level results
| A LEVEL ENGLISH | ||||||||||||
| Year | A | B | C | D | E | N | U | %A‑E | %A‑C | %A | No. Cands. | Board |
| 2009 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 86 | 36 | 14 | WJEC |
| 2008 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | 73 | 11 | WJEC |
| 2007 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 94 | 47 | 17 | Edexcel |
| 2006 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 76 | 12 | 17 | Edexcel |
| AS ENGLISH | ||||||||||||
| Year | A | B | C | D | E | N | U | %A‑E | %A‑C | %A | No. Cands. | Board |
| 2009 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 83 | 22 | 18 | WJEC |
| 2008 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 76 | 18 | 17 | WJEC |
| 2007 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 92 | 77 | 13 | WJEC |
| 2006 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 77 | 32 | 22 | Edexcel |
GCSE results
| GCSE ENGLISH | |||||||||||
| Year | A* | A | B | C | D | E | F | %Pass | %A's | No. Cands. | Board |
| 2009 | 7 | 32 | 38 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 44 | 89 | OCR |
| 2008 | 4 | 12 | 45 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 93 | 18 | 88 | OCR |
| 2007 | 13 | 21 | 36 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 37 | 92 | OCR |
| 2006 | 8 | 22 | 38 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 33 | 91 | OCR |
| GCSE LITERATURE | |||||||||||
| Year | A* | A | B | C | D | E | F | %Pass | %A's | No. Cands. | Board |
| 2009 | 9 | 21 | 28 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 85 | 34 | 88 | OCR |
| 2008 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 28 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 85 | 26 | 88 | OCR |
| 2007 | 10 | 22 | 30 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 35 | 92 | OCR |
| 2006 | 15 | 20 | 33 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 38 | 92 | OCR |
