The English Department at West Kirby Grammar School consists of ten teachers, who are all subject specialists. At Key Stage 3, the curriculum provides students with four English lessons a week in order to effectively develop their key skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. They will read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts, which may include popular choices such as ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Wolf Hollow’ and ‘Blood Brothers’. Students will also study at least two Shakespeare plays. The topics and literature studied at Key Stage 3 ensure progression and schemes of work are carefully constructed to develop the necessary skills for Key Stage 4. As a core department, we provide two courses at GCSE: English Language and English Literature, which all students study. English Language and English Literature are also popular A-level courses. In addition, we offer Film Studies at A-level.
The department boasts excellent public examination results with 99% pass rate at GCSE including 83% of students achieving grades 9-6 in English Literature and 81% in English Language. At A-level, 100% of English Literature and English Language students passed with 71% in Literature and 95% in Language achieving top grades A *- B. In Film Studies, all students passed and an impressive 88% achieved A* - B.
We are proud of the opportunities we offer our students to enrich their learning including workshops with visiting authors, regular theatre visits, competitions such as Poetry by Heart and the competition for Wirral’s Young Poet Laureate. As well as holding an internal Spelling Bee competition for Year 7 pupils, we also compete in the Kid’s Lit Quiz.
Many extra-curricular activities are offered by the department, such as creative writing club, Harry Potter reading club and the Carnegie Medal awards. Sixth Form students have also had the sought after experience of meeting experts in their A-level subjects, such as celebrated linguist David Crystal.
examination results
of GCSE students achieved grades 9-7
of GCSE students achieved grades 9-6
of GCSE students achieved grades 9-4
What we’ve been up to…
Good luck to our #WKGSY13 students who are starting their mock exams tomorrow #GoodLuck ☘️ #TryYourBest 👍 https://t.co/YIY8LxWdop
#WKGSY9 had another amazing trip to the South of Spain 🇪🇸 during the half term ☀️☀️☀️ They visited La Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, Gibralfaro in Málaga 🏰 & Benalmádena amongst other wonderful activities. Looks like an great time was had by all! 🇪🇸☀️👍 #Spain 🇪🇸 #WKGSOnTour✈️ #WKGSMFL #EducationalGlobetrotting 🌍
What an experience for our @WKGS_Theatre students who went on an amazing trip to New York 🌃🗽 They seen many famous sights including #Broadway #CentralPark #StatueOfLiberty #ChelseaHighline & the #EmpireStateBuilding A fantastic time had by all #NYC🗽🇺🇸 #WKGSOnTour ✈️#WKGSDrama https://t.co/ZmLcXs6fKV
What an experience for our Drama students who went on an amazing trip to New York City 🌃🗽 They seen many famous sights including #Broadway #CentralPark #StatueOfLiberty #ChelseaHighline and the #EmpireStateBuilding A fantastic time had by all! #NYC 🌃🗽🇺🇸 #WKGSOnTour ✈️#WKGSDrama 🎭 #EducationalGlobetrotting 🌍
Well done to our @WKGS_Geography department who ran another fantastic trip to Iceland 🇮🇸 over half term. The students were able to witness some amazing sites, including the #NorthernLights 🌌💫🌟 #Iceland 🇮🇸 #WKGSOnTour ✈️ #WKGSGeography 🗺 🌋#EducationalGlobetrotting https://t.co/7lcZRlbUn6
Well done to our Geography department who ran another fantastic trip to Iceland 🇮🇸 over half term. The students were able to witness some amazing sites, including the #NorthernLights 🌌💫🌟 #Iceland 🇮🇸 #WKGSOnTour ✈️ #WKGSGeography 🗺 🌋#EducationalGlobetrotting
Great to see that so many of our students had a wonderful time skiing ⛷️ on the slopes of Austria 🇦🇹 over half term. #WKGSOnTour #WKGSSkiing #EducationalGlobetrotting #Ski #Austria 🇦🇹⛷️🙌❄️🎿
Great to see that so many of our students had a wonderful time skiing ⛷️ on the slopes of Austria 🇦🇹 over half term. #WKGSOnTour #WKGSSkiing #EducationalGlobetrotting #Ski #Austria 🇦🇹⛷️🙌❄️🎿 https://t.co/u4l5aAgvlV
Kindness is about showing compassion. There are many ways that we can be compassionate or show empathy towards other people. 💚 Taking time to be kind to other people can be beneficial for your own emotional wellbeing. happiful.com/simple-ways-to… #BeKind #wellbeing #mentalhealth
An amazing reading challenge for any KS4 or KS5 students! How many can you get through? Home Fire, Kevin, The Song of Achilles and The Glorious Heresies are all personal favourites for me! 📚📖🏆 #ResolutionReadMore #ReadingWomen twitter.com/womensprize/st…
The end of another great half-term at WKGS. We hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable break. We are back to school on Monday 24th February (Week 🅱️) #ChooseToBeYou #HappyHalfTerm #SchoolHoliday
The end of another great half-term at WKGS. We hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable break. We are back to school on Monday 24th February (Week 🅱️) #ChooseToBeYou #HappyHalfTerm #SchoolHoliday https://t.co/vhE4SHlwkY
What a great way to end our half term with so many amazing trips happening for our students #WKGSGeography #WKGSDrama #WKGSMFL 🌍🌎🙌🛫✈️ #Spain 🇪🇸 #Iceland 🇮🇸 #NewYorkCity🗽🇺🇸 #Austria 🎿 🇦🇹 #LearningOutsideTheClassroom #WKGSOnTour #EducationalGlobetrotting
What a great way to end our half term with so many amazing trips happening for our students @WKGS_MFL @WKGS_Geography @WKGS_Theatre @WKGS_Science 🌎🙌🛫✈️ #Spain 🇪🇸 #Iceland 🇮🇸 #NewYorkCity🗽🇺🇸 #Austria 🎿 🇦🇹 #LearningOutsideTheClassroom #WKGSOnTour #EducationalGlobetrotting https://t.co/0k9XyvlFLB
On Monday 3 of our #WKGSY12 Students (Zachary, Amelia, Elspeth) took part in a debate hosted the Rotary Club in West Kirby. All the students were excellent speakers & they really enjoyed the experience. They were presented with certificates by the Chair of the Rotary Club. 👍👏🙌 https://t.co/a5lmFft4Z8