ENGLISH
ENGLISH SKILLS
As we settle into Term 2, students are encouraged to stay on top of their English work and to thoroughly prepare for up-coming assessment tasks. Students should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day outside of class and completing practice pieces to hone their writing skills.
Another way to further develop your skills is to attend the English Help Sessions to get some assistance with your work. These sessions run every Monday at lunch in L01. Teachers will be there to help you with your English work, or you might like to just use it as a space to complete your English homework.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to the Year 7 and 9 students on your completion of the NAPLAN testing this week. These tests provide important data to your families, teachers and the school that will inform your future learning.
PLAIN ENGLISH SPEAKING AWARDS
Good luck to Skyla Ruthven (Year 11) and Aditya Sharma (Year 10) who will next week represent McKinnon at the VCAA Plain English Speaking Awards. Skyla and Aditya will compete against students from across the state, each delivering a prepared speech and a speech responding to an impromptu topic.
Sam Florence
Head of English
SENIOR SCHOOL DEBATING
The dream team is back! Alyssa Nikolakopoulos, Phu An Ta (Best Speaker) and Linh Nguyen have once again shown that they are a force to be reckoned with. Having won every debate this year, their team is top of the ladder at B grade (Year 11) in the competitive Brighton Debating competition. One of the only public schools in a fierce competition taking place at Brighton Grammar each month, the McKinnon banner is flying very high as a result of their exceptional pragmatic thinking and well-practised articulation.
These students are not the only ones, however, honing their skills in quick-thinking, wit and charm; we have over 60 students in the senior school who are challenging themselves and their communication skills through debating.
These advanced students are pushed to consider all sides of complex topics, such as whether the economy is an accurate measure of a nation’s success, whether refugees should have full access to the welfare system, or whether public transport should be free. Having to think critically about all aspects of these complex issues, and sometimes having to debate for a side they do not agree with, builds incredibly important skills such as critical thinking and deep analysis. On top of that, these students must present their ideas with passion and flair, having to use their public speaking skills and power with words to convince the audience that theirs is the best argument.
It is wonderful to see these outstanding students push themselves to improve their English skills even further. We look forward to the last two debates of the Senior School season, and encourage bright and eager Year 7 and 8 students to keep their eyes on the newsfeed in Term 3 when the junior competition begins.
Rachel Walker & Fusun Ozcagli
Debating Co-ordinators/English Teachers
CONGRATULATIONS TO MCKINNON’S TOP WRITERS FOR APRIL!
Well done to the many talented students who entered Writer of the Month in April.
HUGE congratulations to: Eric Tienstra 10L, Indigo Naaman 9L,Olivia Rusin 9L,Amaya Chapman 8G, Madhav Gokulanathan 8H and McKinley Markham 8L.
These students have won a $50 (senior school) and $30 (junior school) voucher from Benn’s Books and gained 50 points for their house. You can read their outstanding pieces on the ‘WOTM’ Google site HERE
Entries for the May competition need to be shared with your English or Literature teacher no later than 3:30pm, Monday 24 May.
Keep up the fantastic writing, McKinnon students!
Ms Liz Pentland
Writer of the Month Coordinator