Highgate is delighted to feature in the latest issue of The Week Independent Schools Guide as part of their special report on English Literature.
Exploring the national decline in subject uptake at university and A level, the article refers to several school specialists, including Odette Orlans who jointly leads Highgate’s English department alongside Roland Powell, to explore how we are combating the trend.
“There is clearly immense pleasure in learning English literature at Highgate – numbers of A-level students are steadily rising every year, and students go on to read English at Oxbridge year after year.”
The Week Independent Schools Guide
Several years ago, Highgate introduced ‘reading for pleasure’ as a whole school objective, amplifying conversations around reading from every corner of the school. Odette and Roland explain how “Reading isn’t just the domain of the English department; it feels like a valuable endeavour that we’re all in together.”
“Part of the reason why English is enjoying this surge in popularity at Highgate is the imaginative freedom we have in our curriculum. Our A level numbers have been steadily increasing over the past five years, from about 20 pupils, to the current intake, which is around 40,” they add.
To hear more about how Highgate is bucking the national trend, read Roland and Odette’s recent blog: “Words can nudge the world.”
