English
Welcome to the English Department at Brighton College
In in section, you will find a guide to our aims and philosophy, together with summaries of the work covered in the 4th Form, GCSE and A Level courses. If you would like to contact the English Department, you can contact the Head of Department at dgabriele@brightoncollege.net
Aims and philosophy
The English Department plays a key role within the school. All pupils take English and English Literature up to GCSE, and this year there are nearly 90 studying English Literature at AS or A2. We take great pride in our excellent results, but beyond that we see it as our job to instil in pupils a love of literature and a critical acumen that reaches far beyond the texts they study. This a responsibility we relish: through stimulating teaching, lively debate and academic rigour we hope that all of our pupils can achieve to their potential.
Beyond the classroom
Our new extra-curricular program, recalibrated in September 2008, offers a plethora of opportunities for pupils throughout the school.
Literary Society meets each Monday lunchtime to consider in detail stretching texts; this term we are looking at the development of English poetry since the Rennaissance. This club is open to U5th and Sixth form and is run by Mr Gabriele.
European Book Club meets two or three evenings a term - at Mr Gabriele's or Mr Smith's house - to discuss masterpieces of European fiction. It is open to 5th form and above, and to teachers also. This term works by Sartre, Lermontov and Kafka will be prised apart by our budding critics.
Newspeak is the school magazine, edited and composed by a crack crew of hacks in the fifth and sixth form. They meet on Wednesday afternoons, under the benign eyes of Mr Law and Mr Gabriele. It is published twice a term, choc full of school news, creative writing and ludic college satire.
Senior Debating - Mr Law runs the extensive inter-house debating program, which pits team against team to contest hot issues of the day. It will lead to a Brighton College entry in the National Schools Debating Competition later in the academic year.
Book Review Club - Miss Shiffner leads this wider reading group open to the 4th form and L5th, which links to other school practice through the Sussex Schools Reading Program. It meets at 4.00pm on Thursdays
4th Form Drama Club takes place on Mondays at 4.00pm to play drama games, rehearse scene studies and devise its own work under the effervescent tutelage of Mr Wheeler.
4th form Creative Writing affords aspiring writers the chance to have their work read and refined during the Activities slot on Wednesday afternoons. This term, Miss Shiffner is plying the editor's trade.
Visiting writers form a crucial part of what we do in the English Department, and this term we have been delighted and honoured to host Carol Ann Duffy and look forward to Nick Hornby's visit later in November.
In addition to this, pupils regularly enter national poetry competitions and write for the annual Brighton Festival. They also produce poetry, drama and prose for the Animated Gallery in March, our annual celebration of creative writing, music, dance and art in the Cafe de Paris. With our proximity to Brighton and London, we also run regular theatre trips for all year groups and visits to academic lectures for the 6th Form.