ENGLISH

Thank you to students for the positive start to the school year. Already we’ve seen students eagerly engaging in the English curriculum, exploring novels, poetry, films and essays.

Last week Year 12 students attended a lecture from Dr Dick, Ms Douglas and Dr Day as part of their preparation for the first SAC on Creating Texts: Protest. 

On Tuesday 11 March our Year 12 English students will travel to ACMI in the city for a screening and lecture on Sunset Boulevard. 

On the same day, our Year 12 EAL students will enjoy an interactive performance of Rainbow’s End at school. Families are reminded to please complete the permission form and payment through Compass.

The Writer Of The Month competition has launched again for 2025, where students can submit pieces of work to be reviewed. Winning students will receive a $50 (Seniors) or $30 (Juniors) voucher from Benn’s Books and 50 points for their house. Book Club is also back; keep an eye on the Compass news feed for details.

Finally, one of the most common questions asked by parents is how they can best support their child’s English studies. A very simple piece of advice for improvement from English teachers is for students to read for at least 20 minutes a day outside of school. Teachers and the helpful staff in the Library can provide students with book recommendations, including non-fiction texts. 

Reading is one of the most effective ways of improving comprehension, grammatical and general writing skills. As the old adage goes, “you can’t write what you haven’t read”. 

See the school’s Library website for text recommendations, book reviews and subscriptions to a range of useful organisations.

Sam Florence

English Learning Area Manager