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69. The curriculum is also constructed so that it appeals to all students, with clear,
distinct outcomes and links to the world beyond school. Some of the Key Stage
3 units of work are innovative and highly distinctive. For example, younger
students especially enjoy the ‘Mr Men’ unit of work. While this might seem on
the surface to make limited demands on the ability of secondary-age students,
the work involves a great deal of grammatical and linguistic analysis. The unit
begins with an exploration of the notion of stereotypes. Students then review
and extend their knowledge of grammar focusing on the use of adjectives,
onomatopoeia and alliteration. This leads into an analysis of Mr Men characters,
analysing the author’s use of these techniques before students create their own
new character.
70. Students also study the various plot lines in existing Mr Men stories, for
example the way that a negative character is made good by the actions of a
second character or the focus on the typical events of one day. They plan and
write their own story and then self- and peer-assess the completed tales. At
this point, the focus turns on to how to give constructive criticism and how to
improve speaking and listening skills.
71. The unit ends with the opportunity for students to read their story to children in
a local primary school. Boys especially enjoy the purpose and direction of this
unit, which involves a clear outcome and audience for their work. There are
many opportunities for students to work in groups and discuss or role-play
issues. The wit and humour in the Mr Men books also engages them and the
grammatical and linguistic analysis is firmly rooted in the need to study and
then imitate a familiar text.
72. Not surprisingly, all students appeared to like English. Students said: ‘I always
look forward to English even on a bad day’ and ‘English lessons are as fun as a
bouncy castle.’ This is at least partly because the department not only listens to
the students’ views but directly addresses their needs and interests through
what is taught. Some of this could be seen in one Year 7 lesson observed. The
lesson began with the students watching a video message from one of the
senior teachers. Students were invited to contribute to redesigning the school
library to make it more eco-friendly. This was a highly effective start to the
lesson and the students were very keen to help. It was explained that the task
for students in the following week would be to ‘pitch’ their design ideas to the
rest of the class using persuasive language and presentations involving
information and communication technology. Students were put into pairs and
asked to come up with one idea for ‘greening’ the library. They were later
placed into one of four research groups to consider different environmental
issues. Students acted as experts and moved to different groups to present the
ideas from their first group. The lesson ended with some discussion of the
linguistic features of emails as students were to compose email replies to the
senior teacher outlining some of their initial ideas. A number of features made
this lesson successful, especially in engaging boys:
the effective use of modern technology
Excellence in English: what we can learn from 12 outstanding schools
May 2011, No. 100229
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