Welcome to English

Welcome to the English Department at The British International School, Abu Dhabi. We pride ourselves on delivering an engaging and enriching curriculum that fosters a love of language and literature in your child. Our primary aim is to empower students with strong communication skills, enabling them to articulate their thoughts effectively and express themselves with clarity and confidence. Alongside this, we focus heavily on developing key reading and writing skills throughout all of our units. These are further developed with library lessons, and the embedding of literacy skills within lessons each week. English is, by nature, a skills based curriculum where we focus on developing these core skills over time; skills that will ultimately help students be successful in English and other subjects in school. 

In addition, we also believe in the transformative power of literature to broaden horizons, encourage empathy, and inspire critical thinking. Our lessons are designed to develop a deep appreciation for diverse cultures and perspectives through the study of various literary works. This will help to develop a lifelong love of reading in our students and we actively encourage everyone in our community to read as often as possible. Ultimately, our department is guided by the belief that a strong foundation in English is essential for future success in all aspects of life.

Our current learning

During term 3, our year 8 curriculum theme is 'The Power of Storytelling' but before students embark on the beauty of storytelling; they will complete their study of their first full Shakespeare text in KS3, A Midsummer Night’s Dream where we see the issued raised in the unit prior come to fruition in this text. This allows students to study a full Shakespeare text and become confident and familiar with the language as Shakespeare plays a role in not only our KS3 curriculum but in IGCSE, IB and beyond! Students will be working towards a reading assessment consisting of analytical paragraphs based on an extract from the play. After four weeks, students will move onto looking at creative writing and how writer's use language for effect and the impact that stories have on our lives. This could be that students research oral stories from their own backgrounds, traditions and cultures but also the way in which stories can shape who we are and who we become. Whilst exploring the way stories are created, we will also be looking at the importance of libraries and using our writing skills to create letters of persuasion around libraries and books that students want to see in their library. Allowing them to see real like implications to their writing and how it can have an effect beyond the classroom. 

NB the document below states that we will be studying A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness; this will no longer be the case and students will explore different extracts from novels instead. 

Curriculum Overview

New Starters

All new starters, and all of our students, are required to have the following.  

1. A device as per 'Bring Your Own Device' school policy. This will be used for a variety of literary research activities.
2. A reading book - students are expected to carry their own reading book with them at all times.
3. An active imagination and creative mindsight.
4. A positive and enthusiastic attitude to all English lessons

Resources List

Recommended reading and core textbooks required for this subject.

These are the most common websites that can support learning in English

Software List

You will need to make sure the following software is installed on your device as it will be used within this subject.

Ensure you have all the necessary Office 365 apps downloaded. 

• Microsoft Word
• Powerpoint
• Teams
• Onenote
• Outlook

Meet the Team