Year 10 English

The Poetics of Place 

Year 10 English – Writing Journeys 

Writing Journeys is one of our new Northcote Model, Year 10 English subjects in 2026 designed to prepare students for the Creating and Crafting Texts Areas of Study in the VCE English Study Design.  

Students moved into their second unit which is about how writers have communicated about people’s connections to place. The Framework of Ideas for this unit of work is ‘The Poetics of Place’, and students read mentor texts by Tim Winton, Tony Birch, Robyn Davidson and Maxine Beneba Clarke that exemplify effective writing about place, learning about how language can be harnessed to convey information and ideas fluently and expressively in the reflective form. 

To start the unit Ms Carrig’s class worked in teams to create collages that convey some aspect of the poetics of place, then collaborated to author artist statements explaining their decisions. They then did a sensory walk through the school grounds to the Merri Creek to observe the environment and use sensory description to translate their experiences into writing. 

Below are some of the collages created, as well as a photograph of the students writing and drawing by the creek. We look forward to the writing they produce across the unit, and more opportunities to inspire students to undertake their own journeys in, with and through writing.