As English teachers, we see our job as helping students to use language to:
- Express themselves
- Make sense of the world
- Communicate in speech and writing
- Gain pleasure and understanding and they learn to do this through:
writing in a range of styles, for specific purposes & audiences so that they learn to adapt
their style to the situation. Students learn to write academic and creative essays, magazine and
newspaper stories, letters, reports, poetry, drama and a in host of other formats
reading a range of texts to recognise their purpose, analyse the style and, most importantly, derive
enjoyment. They thus become confident, wide discriminating readers
speaking and listening in different contexts, styles, and forums so
that they can work effectively with others
The English curriculum at the International School of Toulouse prepares students for the
demands of the IGCSE exams in English language and English Literature at 16 and for the International
Baccalaureate at 18, all of which demand a high level of skill in the manipulation of language and
the analysis of its effects.
We encourage pupils to read good literature from the past and the present as this is a model which shows
language at its most effective and helps us to relate to historical, social and artistic contexts, to encourage
empathy and experience of other worlds. It is also a means of exploring new ways of expression and brings
about confidence, awareness, a critical outlook and a greater sense of personal identity.
As a result, students read widely: individually, in small groups and as a whole class,
gradually learning to analyse the techniques and devices through which great writers shape language
to give it power, hold our attention and reward us with pleasure.
