John Cowper Powys puts the point, purpose and pursuit of English with startling clarity:

To read great books does not mean one becomes 'bookish': it means that something of the terrible insight of Dostoevsky, of the richly charged imagination of Shakespeare, of the luminous wisdom of Goethe, actually passes into the personality of the reader; so that in contact with the chaos of ordinary life certain free flowing outlines emerge, like the forms of some classic picture, endowing both people and things with a grandeur beyond what is visible to the superficial glance.

The English Department seeks to inspire in its pupils not only a deep love of literature, but also an apprenticeship in the science of language, opening pupils to others' worlds and enabling better personal insight into themselves.  We hope that truthful, sophisticated communication results, as well as a life long love for great literature.

We teach half-termly units where boys explore and evaluate a range of multi-modal fiction and non-fiction texts. They read literature from a variety of genres, time periods and cultures and we help them develop their skills in writing down their experiences; writing which focuses on issues of general and specific concern to young people as they prepare themselves for the demands of adulthood and being decent citizens.