The English Language Arts curriculum at Shawnigan Lake School provides students with the opportunity to develop their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills and to think critically, creatively and reflectively. Each teacher in the English Department works to meet these goals in an environment that fosters a positive attitude towards learning, reinforces a positive self-image in every student and encourages all students to strive to achieve their best. As students gain a fuller understanding of language and its uses, they will not only achieve technical competence in their reading and writing; they will also enjoy the pleasures of language in all of its forms, from reading and writing, to literature, theatre, public speaking, creative writing, film and other media.

Because learning for life occurs when students are able to transfer their classroom lessons into a broader context, the English department creates opportunities at each grade level for experiential learning. These opportunities include taking every student to see live theatre each year; entering student writing into external contests, facilitating evening book clubs at each grade level, and organizing evening public speaking showcases. In addition, each grade features a special event, such as the grade 11 student pilgrimage in May following the study of the medieval pilgrimage in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. These experiential opportunities at each grade level contribute to making a Shawnigan English student's learning more meaningful and memorable.