English

Studying English at Perth Grammar School

Welcome to the English Department at Perth Grammar School.

The English staff are six dedicated and knowledgeable teachers, who provide fun, engaging ways to explore the English curriculum. Learn more about our teachers here:

Meet the Teachers

English is a central part of life at Perth Grammar School for every pupil. Most pupils at Perth Grammar Study English from S1 to S5, and many returning S6 pupils decide to continue with English. We are proud to facilitate the award of hundreds of qualifications in English every year.

English staff at PGS are passionate about ensuring that the needs of all our pupils are met, offering qualifications in English, Literacy and Creative writing at all levels. In the BGE phase from S1 to S3, we offer an extremely varied programme where every pupil studies a huge range of literature and writing in several genres, alongside talking, reading and listening skills.

English staff are highly engaged in teaching Wider Achievement courses, leading PGS time, and assisting with the delivery of our important ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ programme. We also provide a variety of extra-curricular activities such as paired reading with Riverside Primary School, author visits, theatre and cinema trips, and visits to our local Waterstones bookstore.

Pupils involved in the paired reading programme with Riverside Primary School

S1 to S3: Broad General Education (BGE)

The department work together to provide a Broad General Education (BGE) programme that offers students a wide variety of learning experiences and engagement with texts. English lessons are designed to be relevant to our young people’s everyday lives and to encourage them to share their Pupil Voice. All BGE pupils receive a ‘yellow jotter’ to assist in tracking their achievements and to show how they are progressing through the BGE curricular levels. They use this jotter to maintain awareness of what curricular level they are working towards, and what they need to do to achieve this level.

We are lucky to utilise many areas of interest in the department – Mrs Moir is our resident expert in Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation and Scots language; Mr Venter enjoys sharing expertise in the genre of poetry; Mrs Wishart loves sharing her skill in Advanced English and classic literature; Mr Craigon is our film studies expert; Miss Beveridge enjoys sharing her passion for contemporary and gothic fiction and Mrs Kiddie loves teaching drama and Scottish texts.

Fresh Start

Fresh Start is a literacy programme which supports pupils with a reading age of lower than 9 to achieve their next steps in reading and writing. This programme has been offered since 2019 and has been successful for several learners, who are now able to fully access the curriculum at BGE level.

Pupils studying the play of ‘Bugsy Malone’

Recent BGE learning and teaching in the department includes:

Mary Moon and the Stars: A moving short story about childhood, friendship and neglect.
Dulce Decorum Est: Studying a war poem.
Create your Own Theme Park: An introduction to persuasive technique in writing.
My Dream School: A creative writing project which enables young people to have a voice in showing the kind of school they want to attend.
Horror Writing: Introduction to creative writing in the horror genre.
Film studies units: including Jaws and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation: learning and teaching activities to develop skills including explaining information in your own words, quoting, summarising and analysing texts.
The Outsiders: A dramatic novel and film about the challenges faced by a group of young people.
Plays including Our Day Out, Room 13, Frankenstein, Fast and An Inspector Calls.

A piece of functional writing – a flyer on workers’ strikes, written in response to the drama text ‘An Inspector Calls’.

Senior Phase – S4 to S6

In the Senior Phase, pupils study qualifications which match their level. We offer a range of qualifications to raise attainment and support learner pathways. This includes National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher English, National 5 Literacy, and this year a new qualification: Literature and Communication. The teaching and learning in the senior phase focuses on the following:

National 2, 3 and 4 English and Literacy – For these qualifications, pupils must complete in-class assessments on talking, listening, reading and writing. These qualifications are highly valued by apprenticeship schemes and colleges.
National 5 English and Literacy – most of our pupils gain this qualification before leaving school. It consists of a folio of writing, an examined essay, a Scottish text exam, and work on reading skills.
Higher English – pupils produce a writing folio, work on reading complex texts, study a Scottish Set text, study a literature/media text, and produce an essay under exam conditions. Highly valued by universities, and a Higher in English is a minimum requirement for the majority of degree courses.
Literature and Communication Level 6. The course combines two SQA units: Literature 1 (FA58 12) and Communication (FA1W 12, also known as Communications 4). Together, these two units are accepted by a number of colleges and universities as an equivalent qualification to Higher English. The course is internally assessed with no exam and is assessed on a Pass or Fail basis. The course builds the skills required for Higher English and can be a good bridging course if you are not sure you are ready for Higher English.
Advanced Higher English – Advanced Higher gives our pupils the opportunity to study books of their own choice for their Dissertation and showcases the very best talents of our English learners. Highly valued by universities across a range of fields, from History to Medicine.
Creative Writing qualifications – pupils produce two pieces of Creative Writing, showing understanding of genre and creative techniques to gain this award.

Library and reading for pleasure

English teachers work in close partnership with our two specialist school librarians – Mrs Donaldson and Mrs Tipping – who run one of the best-equipped, most up-to-date school libraries in Scotland. We love Mrs Donaldson’s mantra: ‘If you think you don’t enjoy reading, you just haven’t found the right book yet!’ Every term, pupils request new books and add to the library’s collection. The library supports personal reading periods and provides apps, ebooks and digital resources. They also run lunchtime clubs:

Monday: Silent Book Club. 1.30pm Come with your book, find a corner and read. No pressure, no discussion just a quiet space to read what you love. Bring your book and enjoy a peaceful escape with fellow book lovers.
All welcome, especially introverts!
Tuesday: Board Games.1.30pm Chess, Battleships, Cluedo and more. Whether you're a total beginner or a budding grandmaster, all levels are welcome.
Wednesday: Film Club 1.10pm Bring your lunch, bring your friends and help us choose our very first film.
Thursday: Craft Club. 1.30pm. Whether you're into origami, friendship bracelets, or just want to try something new—everyone’s welcome. No experience needed, just crafty fun!
Friday: Silent Book Club Part Two: finish the week as we started it, with some quiet reading in the LRC.

MVP – Mentors in Violence Prevention

The ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ programme is delivered by seniors to BGE pupils in four of their English lessons over the course of the year. This enables senior pupils to gain valuable leadership experience. MVP pupil mentors undertake a two-day training course where they discuss subjects such as harmful gender stereotyping, respectful and abusive relationships and the important role of a bystander in tackling serious problems in our society. They use their knowledge to lead classes and to positively influence the culture and ethos of our school.

More information about English at Perth Grammar can be found on the departmental Twitter page. Why not follow us @EnglishPGS2 - https://twitter.com/EnglishPGS2

Why not follow us @EnglishPGS2 Twitter