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ENGLISH

Reading Books Makes You Better

S1-3 English

Pupils engage in a wide range of reading, writing, talking and listening activities from S1-S3, covering the full range of English and Literacy Experiences and Outcomes. As well as a continued focus on fundamental literacy skills, English is also studied within a modern context and increasing emphasis is placed on the role of media within this curricular area. Our S1-3 courses are shaped by the four capacities of a Curriculum for Excellence and they are designed to enable pupils to become successful learners, effective contributors, confident individuals and responsible citizens. After the Broad General Education, pupils will move on to National 4 or National 5 English. Pupils develop reading, writing, talking and listening skills as well a focus on general literacy skills. 

National 4 English

Aims of the course 


The National 4 English course aims to provide learners with the opportunity to develop the skills of listening and talking, reading, and writing in order to understand and use language. 


The course aims to enable learners to develop the ability to: 

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  • listen and talk, read, and write, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • understand, analyse and evaluate texts, as appropriate to purpose and audience in the contexts of literature, language and media 

  • create and produce texts, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • apply knowledge and understanding of language 

  • plan and research, integrating and applying language skills as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

 

Course assessment  
To achieve a course award at National 4, pupils will be required to pass four internally assessed Units. 

National 5 English

Aims of the course 

 
The National 5 English course aims to provide learners with the opportunity to develop the skills of listening and talking, reading, and writing in order to understand and use language. 

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The course aims to enable learners to develop the ability to: 

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  • listen and talk, read, and write, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • understand, analyse and evaluate texts including Scottish texts, as appropriate to purpose and audience in the contexts of literature, language and media 

  • create and produce texts, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • apply knowledge and understanding of language 

 

Course assessment 
To achieve a course award, pupils will require to pass the internally assessed Unit and the externally assessed Course Assessment.

Higher English

The National 6 English course aims to provide learners with the opportunity to develop the skills of listening and talking, reading, and writing in order to understand and use language. 


The course aims to enable learners to develop the ability to: 

​

  • listen and talk, read, and write, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • understand, analyse and evaluate texts including Scottish texts, as appropriate to purpose and audience in the contexts of literature, language and media 

  • create and produce texts, as appropriate to purpose, audience and context 

  • apply knowledge and understanding of language 

Advanced Higher English

The Advanced Higher English Course aims to provide learners with the opportunity to develop complex language skills, to develop their ability to interpret complex literature and to produce sophisticated language. 


The course will provide learners with the opportunity to apply critical, analytical and evaluative skills to a wide range of complex and sophisticated texts from different genres. Learners will also develop sophisticated writing skills in a variety of different types of writing. 


The course encourages a high degree of collaborative and independent learning and the level of academic study is excellent preparation for university-level study. 

Useful Links

 

BBC Bitesize

 

Quality Journalism

Reading Lists

S1-2 

  • John Boyne – ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ 

  • Eoin Colfer – ‘Half Moon Investigates’ 

  • Suzanne Collins – ‘The Hunger Games’ 

  • Joe Craig – ‘Jimmy Coates: Killer’ 

  • Neil Gaiman – ‘The Graveyard Book’ 

  • Anthony Horowitz – ‘Stormbreaker’ 

  • Frances Harding – ‘The Lie Tree’ 

  • Cathy MacPhail – Between the Lies 

  • Sophie McKenzie – ‘The Medusa Project: The Set-up’ 

  • Michael Morpurgo – ‘Warhorse’ 

  • Patrick Ness – ‘The Knife of Never Letting Go’ 

  • Philip Pullman – ‘Northern Lights’ 

  • Rick Riordan – ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ 

  • Veronica Roth – ‘Divergent’ 

  • Scott Westerfeld – ‘Uglies’ 

 

S3-4  

  • Douglas Adams – ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ 

  • Aravind Adiga – ‘The White Tiger’ 

  • Akemi Dawn Bowman – ‘Starfish’ 

  • Stephen Chbosky – ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ 

  • C.G. Drews – ‘The Boy Who Steals Houses’ 

  • Robert Harris – ‘Pompeii’ 

  • Geraldine McCaughrean – ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’ 

  • Michael Morpurgo – ‘Private Peaceful’ 

  • Meg Rosoff – ‘The Way We Live Now’ 

  • Meera Syal – ‘Anita and Me’ 

  • Sue Townsend – ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole’ 

  • Robert Louis Stevenson – ‘Treasure Island’ 

  • James Watson – ‘Talking in Whispers’ 

 

S5-6 

  • Maya Angelou – ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ 

  • Kate Atkinson – ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’ 

  • Iain Banks – ‘The Wasp Factory’ 

  • Charlotte Bronte – ‘Jayne Eyre’ 

  • Jonathan Coe – ‘Middle England’ 

  • Roddy Doyle – ‘Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha’ 

  • Lucy McKnight Hardy – ‘Water Shall Refuse Them’ 

  • Kazuo Ishiguro – ‘Never Let Me Go’ 

  • N.K. Jemisin – ‘How Long Til Black Future Month’ 

  • Bernard MacLaverty – ‘Grace Notes’ 

  • Val McDermid – ‘The Mermaids Singing’ 

  • Mary Shelley – ‘Frankenstein’ 

  • Bram Stoker – ‘Dracula’ 

  • Kurt Vonnegut – ‘Slaughterhouse 5’ 

  • HG Wells – ‘The Time Machine’  

  • John Williams – ‘Stoner’ 

 

The texts below are often taught and studied by classes in S3-6. However, there’s nothing to stop you reading them in your own time, too, as they are not only literary classics, but also eminently readable! 

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  • Margaret Atwood – ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ 

  • Ray Bradbury – ‘Farenheit 451’ 

  • F Scott Fitzsgerald – ‘The Great Gatsby’ 

  • William Golding – ‘Lord of the Flies’ 

  • Lewis Grassic Gibbon – ‘Sunset Song’ 

  • Graham Greene – ‘Brighton Rock’ 

  • Mark Haddon – ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’ 

  • Harper Lee – ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ 

  • Laurie Lee – ‘Cider with Rosie’ 

  • George Orwell – ‘Animal Farm’ 

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