Our department aims to foster a lifelong appreciation of reading and commitment to the study of English language and literature. In English at Runnymede, we wish for all our pupils to acquire the range of vocabulary, understanding of critical viewpoints, and flexibility of style, register and tone, so they can flourish in all aspects of modern society.

As well as delivering consistently excellent academic results, the English department is amongst the most important in Runnymede’s extra-curricular life. Annual events include our Short Story Competition and the Shakespeare Speaking Competition for our Year 9s. On top of this, we oversee the thriving Runnymede Times, which continues to showcase the exceptional writing ability of many of our students. Our journalists further develop their own personal writing styles, reporting on Runnymede life as well as the more complex contemporary issues affecting the world today.

‘A word after a word after a word is power’ wrote the great Canadian author Margaret Atwood in a haunting poem. The English department is dedicated to showing our pupils how to thread language together with this spell-like creativity and skill – we want to empower our students to fully e

ngage with issues of social justice in local and global contexts, through helping them to develop interest and empathy for people and places beyond the limits of their own realities.

Every Runnymedian should be encouraged to express themselves confidently and to trust in their own voice, which should seek not to find the ‘right answer’ but embrace the joy of questioning.