Mrs Hannah Simcock - Head of Department (Years 10-13)
BA (Oxon), PGCE (Sussex)
email: hannah.simcock@stcatherines.info
Joined the English Department at St Catherine’s in 2015, and still can’t quite believe that her job means reading and discussing brilliant literature every day.  Current literary favourites include Jane Austen, George Eliot, Ian McEwan and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Cannot walk past a second-hand bookshop without buying at least a couple more novels. Reads fiction for enjoyment and relaxation every day, curates an ever-growing reading list, and is always open to recommendations of new titles and authors. Is a strong believer that reading can, and does, change your life. Taught English in Spain and China prior to joining St. Catherine’s, and now leads the St Catherine’s Alsama Project connecting our Sixth Formers with Syrian refugees studying English in Lebanon.  

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Mrs Sarah Strachan - Head of Department (Years 7-9)
BSc USAF Academy, MA Penn State, PGCE (English)
email: sarah.strachan@stcatherines.info
Has taught at state and independent schools. Prior to teaching in the UK, served 20 years in the United States Air Force working in a variety of positions around the globe including Germany, Qatar and Italy until retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2014 to settle with her family. Believes in the power of literature to transform the world around us because it creates imaginary spaces where readers are free to develop empathy, think critically and reflect on their society in meaningful ways. Avidly consumes Victorian literature, war literature and modern re-tellings of classical stories. Is always happy to talk books and drink good coffee.

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Mrs Vanessa Whittingham
BA (Hons) Reading, PGCE (Reading), MA (Kingston) -
email: vanessa.whittingham@stcatherines.info
Started her teaching career at Reigate Grammar School where she was lucky enough to work with St Catherine’s own Mr Worthen. After moving to Notting Hill and Ealing High School, she then taught at The Lady Eleanor Holles School for eight years.  Most recently, whilst raising her two daughters, she has worked as a private English tutor. Particularly enjoys teaching the nineteenth century novel and the Romantics but is passionate about exploring all literature with her pupils from Atwood to Benjamin Zephaniah. Her hobby is children’s literature and she is writing and researching a children’s book in her spare time.

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Mrs Catherine Harrison BA HDipEd(Wits) MA(Stell.)
e-mail: Catherine.harrison@stcatherines.info
Started her teaching career in South Africa and was eventually a Head Teacher. In the UK, Catherine has taught International Baccalaureate and GCSEs at Charterhouse. She is fascinated by linguistics and the way language can be weaponised and she enjoys reading poetry. Catherine has two married daughters who live locally, and she loves the theatre, cinema and the outdoors. Her reading includes non-fiction and fiction, and her particular area of interest lies in post-colonial work. Curled up on the couch with the dog and the cat, Catherine loves to be in the company of Adiche, Angelou and Atwood – and that’s just the beginning of the alphabet!

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Mrs Deborah Kitchen: BA (Oxon), PGDip
email: debbie.kitchen@stcatherines.info
Joined the English Department at St Catherine’s in 2014 and is Musgrave Housemistress: a change in career direction from legal practice. Thoroughly enjoys sharing her interest in the intricacies of language with others and has a particular regard for the social commentary of Dickens, as well as the poetry of World War I. Enjoys spending time with family, reading historical fiction, and has taken up the saxophone again, after a break of many years.

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Ms Louise Robson: BA (Hons), PGCE (Distinction) Hull
email: louise.robson@stcatherines.info
Has taught since 1997 in both state and private sectors; previously employed as Head of English at the British School of Barcelona, Spain. Areas of literary interest and specialisms include post-colonial literature, Romanticism, twentieth century drama and the Gothic tradition.

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Other teaching staff:

• Mrs Elizabeth Kermode, (Teacher of English & Psychology)

• Mrs Montse Gil Rivas (Teacher of English, French & Spanish)

Examination Board: Edexcel (from September 2025)

A Level English Literature Specification

Why study English?

A Level English Literature is a very popular academic subject, highly regarded by universities and employers in a variety of careers.

It is a good companion to studies in History and in Languages both Ancient and Modern, though it may profitably be taken in conjunction with a range of subjects in both the Humanities and Sciences. Like any academic subject, English naturally makes demands upon those who study it: you should come prepared to work diligently, to read both extensively and with close attention to detail, to think hard, and to discuss your ideas in the classroom and beyond. The rewards lie in the enriching of your mind that comes with encountering a variety of great literature, in the sharpening of your ability to express yourself clearly and coherently in speech and writing, and in the sheer pleasure that reading and discussion provide. By the end of the course, the books you have read, discussed and written about will ideally be part of an unfolding lifetime’s enjoyment of literature.

Course Content

• Paper 1 Drama: one Shakespeare and one other Drama text
• Paper 2 Prose: two prose texts studied, both linked by a theme
• Paper 3 Poetry: an Anthology of twenty poems, all post 2000, and twenty to thirty poems from either a literary period or a named poet
• NEA: An extended comparative essay of 2500-3000 words 

Assessment

A Level: 2 x 2¼ hour papers, 1 x 1¼ hour paper

Examination Board: Cambridge International Examinations

IGCSE English Language (2024-2026) SpecificationIGCSE English Literature (2023-2025) Specification
CIE English Language IGCSE and English Literature IGCSE are taken by all girls. 

Middle School 

Work in the Middle School years (U3, L4 and U4, Years 7-9) can be divided into four areas: literature, writing, grammar/language work and personal reading.  All of these are designed to make the girls ready to tackle their IGCSE courses in the L5 and U5 (Years 10 and 11) and to lay a strong foundation for work at A Level.  

Literature

From U3 onwards, the girls are gradually introduced to major authors and literary texts. The U3 begin with storytelling, ancient origin myths, Homer, Chaucer, poetry and the art of rhetoric. In the Fourth Form, whole texts by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and substantial readings of Shakespeare's plays are taught. Poetry, drawn from a range of poets and periods, in a variety of forms and dealing with various themes, is studied each year. In the U4 especially, teaching is designed to lead up to the two years of the IGCSE course.

Writing

Throughout the Middle School Years, girls are taught to have a regular concern to achieve clarity, correctness and coherence in all their writing. The types of composition to be taught and practised include writing that explains, describes, evokes, narrates, reflects, expresses thoughts and feelings, advances and opposes arguments, persuades and analyses.  Naturally, the level of complexity in each of these will increase each year.  We use OneNote for shorter tasks, and paper for extended writing.  Our overall aim is that the essentials of good writing are grasped securely before the IGCSE courses begin.  

Grammar/Language Work

We teach our own course in grammar, punctuation and correct usage, which aims to cover the essentials in these areas by the end of Middle School.  In the U3, we teach the following: determiners and clauses; noun, pronoun and verb; subject, verb and direct object; full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, apostrophe and inverted commas; and various fundamental aspects of correct usage.  In the L4 and U4, the previous work is consolidated and revised, and the following are added: adjective, adverb, conjunction and preposition; active and passive voice; colon and semi-colon; and further fundamentals of correct usage.  Each term, we also teach and test the girls' knowledge of sophisticated words that will enable them to write with greater precision and fluency.  

Reading

All Middle School pupils are expected to read for pleasure as a matter of course.  Each week the girls actively reflect on their reading, completing a log as part of their prep. 

For all current parents, reading lists are added on the community Library website pages here.