English Language & Literature
English Language & Literature
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The ELL Department aims to nurture students to be passionate and confident explorers of the language and literature.
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The CWSS ELL Curriculum is designed to offer students opportunities to cultivate mastery of language and literature through providing experiential learning opportunities as well as platforms for them to broaden their perspectives.
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Some of these include Drama-in-Curriculum, Reading-in-Curriculum, Poetry Trails, Learning Journeys to musicals/plays/museums and engaging project tasks such as creation of podcasts, vlogs, and mini drama production.
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To inculcate a love for reading, the student interest group “Book Club” is also advised by members of the ELL Department and the Librarian.
English Language
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The ELL Department’s English Language Programme prepares our students for the G1, G2 and G3 English Language at the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examination.
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Bridging Programmes are conducted at the end of each academic year to provide learning support for students taking up English Language at a More Demanding Level – G1 to G2, and G2 to G3.
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Balanced with the rigour of language learning in the English classroom, critical thinking skills, adaptive thinking and collaborative learning take place in multimodal lesson activities, gamification, and alternative assessments.
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The Joy of Learning and 21st Century Competencies are also nurtured through the Learning Journeys for cohort-level experiences at local theatrical productions and visits to places of interest to explore the use of language in the intersections with art, culture, and heritage.
Literature in English
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Commonwealthians undergo the Lower Secondary Literature in English programme in Secondary 1 and 2 at the G2 and G3 levels. The programme exposes students to Poetry, Prose, and Drama over the span of 2 years, which enriches their language learning with an appreciation for the literary arts in English Language.
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The ELL Department also offers Literature in English at the Upper Secondary level for those who demonstrate keen interest in the subject. These G2 and G3 Literature in English subjects are then examinable at the SEC examinations.
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Learning of Literature is brought alive from the print texts by experiential activities such as Reader’s Theatre, Poetry Recitals, and Learning Journeys to experience how theatrical productions translate dramatic scripts into stage magic.
Talent Development Programme
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The ELL Department Talent Development Programme is designed in a two-pronged approach – the literacy component in the Wordsmiths activities, and the oracy component in the Voxsmiths activities.
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The Wordsmiths workshops are for students who are passionate in creating poetry and prose, while the Voxsmiths workshops are for students who find that they enjoy sharing their ideas with others through the spoken word. These workshops are usually conducted under the ambit of CWSS’ Trailblazer Thursday workshops, where students are free to sign up for the multitude of workshops to learn something new and outside the classroom.
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Talents in the literacy and oracy domains are from their exposure training at the workshops and are given opportunities for more advanced training through in-house workshops, experiential learning journeys and participation in competitions to enhance and develop their craft.
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Students in the Wordsmiths workshops are encouraged to develop their portfolio for suitable writing competitions and for submission to the MOE Gifted Branch’s Creative Arts Programme Seminar. They also take part in the National Schools’ Literature Festival’s Flash Fiction competition and other competitions during Poetry Festival Singapore.
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Oratorical talents encouraged to broaden their experience through the various training platforms such as being emcees at school events, and work towards participation in the Orator’s Trophy, National Schools’ Literature Festival’s Debate competitions and the Plain English Speaking Award (PESA).