Senior School English Department

The Senior School English department is made up of seven members of staff, each of whom brings a diverse educational and professional background to the team. The team has a wealth of teaching experience drawn from the International Baccalaureate (IB), British, Canadian and Australian educational systems and educational qualifications and expertise gained at some of the best universities in the world.

The Senior School English department encompasses courses teaching Literature and Language through all years, as well as Second Language English at the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP). Our programmes pursue IBDP qualifications and IGCSE qualifications with the Cambridge International Examinations Board.

All pupils at Marlborough study English and the vast majority do so at a first language level. All pupils pursue first language Literature and Language courses until at least the IGCSE level, with additional support provided for English as an Additional Language (EAL) pupils. At the IBDP level, most students continue with English as their first language, with a small number electing to pursue the Language B English course offered. For the IBDP, we offer the Language and Literature course at Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL) as well as the Literature course at both HL and SL. In addition, the SL Literature and Performance course and the HL and SL Language B English course are available.

The department class rooms are located in the Betjeman building, which also contains the offices of the English Department and the House Masters of many of the day houses and has direct access to the library. The Department space also includes an outdoor amphitheatre known as ‘The Pit’. Each classroom has full audio-visual equipment, wireless internet and projectors with Apple TV. Independent and creative learning is encouraged, facilitated by the flexibility offered by Wi-Fi and Macbooks. The development of multiple literacies and thinking skills is a priority.

The English department coordinates a number of enrichment activities including theatre visits, book buying trips and competitions for poetry and essay writing. Further, the English department has been involved in Model United Nations (MUN) at Marlborough and supports our annual participation in MUN Conferences such as THIMUN Singapore. The English department also supports student writers through annual school publications and ad hoc publications in the media.

Prep School English Department

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. – Joseph Addison

The main goal of all English beaks at Marlborough College Malaysia is to foster a life-long love of literature and language in all its forms amongst the pupils. Engaging and stimulating texts are at the heart of all units of study and are used to explore a range of genres including descriptive and narrative writing, discursive writing, poetry, Shakespeare, modern fiction, information texts, persuasive writing and public speaking.

Pupils are urged to think critically about each text studied and are empowered with tools in order to do so. We want them discuss not only the content but the text’s purpose and audience. Getting under the skin of texts is key to the pupils then using these as a springboard to develop their own ideas and writing.

All pupils encouraged to ‘read, read, read’ in the Prep School and they are able to visit the library at least once a week to relax in a comfy armchair or bean bag to read a text of their choice. All pupils also have access to Myon, an exciting online library with over 5000 books.
All lessons are delivered by specialist English beaks who, as well as following the rigorous curriculum, bring their own interests and passions to the classroom.

Pre-Prep English Department

Our Pre-Prep English curriculum is based on the UK National Curriculum (Literacy Primary Framework). In Years 1 and 2 we are working within Key Stage 1 of the curriculum. This involves a number of strands including; Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing, Phonics, Handwriting and Spelling. Objectives are established to ensure full coverage of essential skills are explicitly taught.
Speaking and listening play a key role and we aim for our pupils to become effective communicators across a range of media. Through providing our pupils with a range of experiences and opportunities to express their creative ideas and make contributions during discussions.
To help develop a love of reading our pupils are immersed in a language and text rich environment. Our pupils read a range of text together, independently, they are read to, as well as having regular visits to the school library to choose and read books. Direct teaching of reading skills is taught through guided reading sessions as well as one-to-one reading. Our pupils are taught phonics skills in differentiated levels ensuring the pupils have a solid base for reading and writing decoding development.
Our pupils have the opportunity to write using a broad range of genres, including recount, instructions and poetry. Children use familiar stories in Years 1 and 2 to act as a basis for creative writing, changing a variety of components to publish their own written work.