new head needs your help!

I'm the Principal of a small independent British Curriculum school in the Middle East. We support NGO workers, charge low fees and therefore can't pay much. The low pay and our location mean we have a small pool of willing candidates, so as a result, few of our staff are qualified. Despite this, many are excellent having learnt on the job over many years. Some, however, are not so great. They are all trying their best, that I don't doubt, but some lack the experience and training to deliver what's required. I myself have been a secondary teacher for 12 years, but have no SLT experience. The standard our school works to is considerably lower than what would be required in the UK. I am slowly bringing it up, but one step at a time.

I'm not a meddling head, but when year 8 are reciting Canterbury Tales in Middle English I worry a bit! What I really need is a KS3 English mentor, someone who I can drop an email to now and then with more questions.

But let's start with:
What texts do you study in yr7, 8 & 9?
How do you switch on the uninterested lads?
Have you heard of or ever taught logic (not from a maths or ICT perspective, but English/Philosophy)?

 

Feel free to email any time. My email is my TES username at Gmail.