If you've felt the thrill of a great story or relished hunting for the right word in your own writing, you'll enjoy English with us. You'll come into contact with literature in all its forms from more than six centuries, meeting the wonderful variety of writers in our language. English at St Paul's is about acquiring specialist literary skills – understanding how texts work and how we read them – and it's also about what you write yourself. We help you to develop your own writing and encourage you to find precise and original ways to use the language.

A shared passion for reading and for talking about what we read makes the English classrooms exciting places to be.

Our teaching is challenging and lively and asks you to think for yourself. We don't expect you to take what we say, or what anyone else says, on trust. The constant opportunities for debate and discussion in our classes mean you can argue your own case and question other people's views.

English here goes well beyond the classroom. We have a school newspaper always on the lookout for reporters and editors, there's a very productive creative writing group and there are many annual competitions for our writers to enter. Practising writers visit the school regularly to talk to you about their work and you can also consult them about your own.

English staff

Head of department

• Jonathan Patrick MA, DPhil (Oxon)

Other teaching staff

• Nicholas Dakin BA (Birmingham)
• Emily Hardy BA (Cantab)
• Lydia Mason BA (Durham) English
• Leonie Rushforth BA (Cantab)
• Sarah Wah MA (Leeds), DPhil (Cantab)