English

Proudly situated at the center of the seventeen academic departments in Teso College Aloet, the English/Literature department has remained for some time and is one of the best performing in this school.

The English Language/Literature Curriculum
The department emphasizes a holistic curriculum that ensures that learners acquire proper communicative skills useful both in and out of class. Thus, our teaching and learning materials are carefully selected as long as they meet the following criteria:

• Interactive
• Inclusive
• Accommodate all learning abilities
• Contextually relevant
• Incorporate real life situations
• Contribute to the acquisition of requisite skills
• Embed appropriate values
• Develop the full range of cognitive skills
• Use assessment for learning

It is these guiding principles that have influenced our choice of literature books to be studied at both O and A levels. For instance, the following A level literature texts were meticulously assessed and chosen with the above tenets in mind:

PLAYS: P310/2

Section A:

Romeo and Juliet: William Shakespeare

Section B:

The Imaginary Invalid: Moliere

Section C:

A man for All Seasons: Robert Bolt

Section D

Echoes of Silence: John Ruganda

NOVELS: P310/3

Section A

Oliver Twist: Charles Dickens

Section B

Heart of the Matter: Graham Green

Section C

House Boy: Ferdinand Onyonu

Section D

The Moon Also Sets: Osi Ogedi

Planning

When it comes to planning, the department has readily typed out schemes of work for the whole year for all the classes. These schemes are regularly updated to cater for emerging issues and new texts. Individual teachers are encouraged to use the departmental scheme as a guide but are free to use their inventiveness and ingenuity to suit the unique conditions of the classes they teach.

Successful strategies (so far):

• Joint marking and scheming
• Regular seminars and discussions
• Early completion of the syllabi of both English and literature
• Support supervision
• Teaching of functional writing skills right from S1
• Actively engaging students in debates and writing competitions
• Upholding the regular marking of students’ books
• The induction of members on functional writing skills
• Team teaching
• Ensuring that students read the literature texts through regular text related assignments
• Display of important aspects in charts in the classrooms
• Professional development

Mr. Oboi Paul
Head of Department