Times Literary Supplement

For the last two years the PTA has kindly funded the Townley subscription to the Times Literary Supplement for our students to access digitally. This is an exceptional publication that covers all aspects of the literary world across fiction, poetry, history, classics, politics and beyond. The academic articles are valuable to help students research both their coursework for English and develop their wider reading for their UCAS statements. As well as increase their reading range ability to engage with critical and complex academic works. The online subscription gives us access to the archive (it has been published for over 100 years!) and each weekly edition. We are requesting a new grant for the next year to purchase a subscription. Additional Information: Please see attached feedback from two students regarding their use and love of the TLS. I am very happy to share more feedback from students regarding their use of TLS. 6th Form students are required to complete academic reading each week in Form time to help them engage and extend their study of their subjects and consider the most recent scholarship in their chosen fields/ pathways after 6th Form. The TLS is an excellent resource that reviews and explores the most recent works of scholarship across all disciplines. All 6th form Literature students and any one in my Form group is required to find at least 3 useful articles to disseminate and discuss when planning their personal statement and coursework. I'm happy to share evidence of students referencing TLS articles in future personal statements, with their permission. However, for obvious privacy reasons I cannot share previous students' personal statements. I'm very eager to discuss with you any evidence you think would be suitable to show how students engage with this resource. As above, I can share some articles and snippets of Coursework from students. Please let me know if you would like me to send these. The TLS is a unique Publication, and quite frankly a bargain. It has been in publication for over 100 years and with a digital subscription we have access to that entire archive. There is a weekly publication. There for the cost per publication of a new resource is £1.61 per week. Virginia Woolf herself was one of the early contributors and in this week's edition there is an article examining the "Real Mrs Dalloway - an exploration of context and women writers". Mrs Dalloway is one of our studied texts in the English Literature A Level course. There is without a doubt no alternative that is of better economic value or as erudite as this subscription. In fact, I'm sure you will all enjoy reading it yourselves! Student feedback Merlin: The TLS has been a fundamental resource for my A Levels this year. It has provided necessary articles for Classics scholarship, a required aspect of the A Level exam. From reviews by Edith Hall to Mary Beard’s commentary on Roman politics, the TLS has been invaluable in my understanding of Classics. I have used many of the articles I read there in my Internal Examinations in order to achieve the top band of the markscheme. Additionally, it has aided me in preparing for my English coursework as their review on James Baldwin and how his work is still relevant in the American political landscape has given me necessary context for my chosen text. The TLS has provided critical readings for many of the texts studied in English; Virginia Woolf herself was once a writer for the literary review and their archives has provided much information about the genres she was influenced by. More importantly, the TLS has been invaluable to my UCAS application. Edith Hall’s review of the West End production of Elektra has been an immeasurable help in my super curricular activities as I was inspired to see the play myself. The nuanced discussions of Sophoclean tragedies was crucial in my rough plan for my UCAS statement. The TLS has been vital to my academic journey and my understanding of how to approach literature, both ancient and modern. I hope that the school will be able to renew our subscription as many students have benefited greatly from this resource. Jasmine: In the lead-up to my Internal Examinations, I found the TLS to be a crucial source of academic reading, with the previously archived publications containing insightful perspectives on potential texts or literary movements for my English coursework. Before my Internal Examinations, the TLS was also vital in the ‘Intitial Ideas’ stage of my EPQ, as the variety of information available allowed me a greater scope of options in deciding the subject of my research project, and although I ultimately did not base my EPQ upon a work of literature, it can be assumed easily that the TLS would prove an invaluable help to those who did. The Times Literary Supplement has also been an invaluable source of podcasts related to my class and coursework texts, which have been of a great help to me, as they can be listened to in any environment, and provide an alternative to scholarly reading on mobile which is more productive than listening to music. Additionally, being able to listen to podcasts such as Mary Beard’s ‘Hubris and Nemesis’ whilst travelling to school has allowed me to allot extra time to my pursuit of critical reading for English, as well as freeing time previously allocated to English for work in my other A Level subjects. UCAS Personal Statements may also be aided by the TLS, as extra/super curricular reading is encouraged by UCAS and is a viable subject of discussion within your personal statement. The TLS has been vital to the development of my ability to engage and discuss literature, as the site provides accessible and nuanced academic discussion via podcasts and articles. Furthermore, the archived issues present the development of critical reception for various texts and authors in chronological order, which provides an insight into the effects of political and social movements on the perception of certain themes present within them. The Times Literary Supplement is a resource which has a wide variety of uses across multiple A Level subjects, for the development of one’s personal interests in literature and its discussion. It is for this reason that I implore the school to consider renewing our annual subscription, as there are widespread benefits for student’s personal and academic development.