English at Ampleforth
English at Ampleforth has a strong tradition of innovation and independence, while vehemently maintaining the centrality and challenge of the literary canon.
Some years ago, with the strong support of Fr Leo Chamberlain (OSB), the Headmaster at the time, the Department withdrew from GCSE English Literature and replaced it with its own Literature Certificate, a constantly evolving syllabus that involves students in the study of literary “greats”, as well as encouraging independent projects and the close reading of canonical poets from Chaucer onwards. The Certificate received a lot of national interest when it was introduced, and it was highlighted again recently by The Daily Telegraph in an article attributing the current trend for alternative examinations, such as the Cambridge Pre-U, to Ampleforth’s initiative.
English is central to any curriculum, both in introducing the young to the best literature of the past and present, and in providing space for the exploration of their world and experience through language. The ability to read with understanding and pleasure, as well as to deploy concise, accurate and appropriate English, are essential skills for life, in the market place, but more importantly in every student’s moral and spiritual development. An emphasis on both is strong in our teaching. To these ends, the Department shapes challenging courses for the Year 9 sets and tailors the public examination syllabuses, resisting all “dumbing down”, to ensure that our students have real opportunities to engage, in informed and personal encounter, with the great writing of our culture.
As well as teaching, with passionate and specialist interests extending from the literature of the early medieval period, through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the Victorian novel, to contemporary poetry, members of the Department act, direct in the Theatre, play various instruments, sing and write. All this, we believe, has a significant impact on the range of teaching and approach to the subject at every level. Recent extra-mural initiatives have included BBC Radio 4’s programme about the Ampleforth Poetry Society, the magazine “Published”, which prints original writing by students and staff, and the whole school Reading Day, “Honour the 600”, which involved nearly half the school and raised over £10000 for charity.