English

Debating the merits of TikTok

Victor Hugo, the French novelist, famously claimed that perseverance was the secret of all triumphs. This was certainly true when the St George’s Junior Debating Team triumphed over Shenton College, defending the merits of TikTok. (Did you know St George's has a TikTok account?) This was the Junior Team’s final debate for the season. It was fitting that they ended their season with such a compelling win. Congratulations are due to all three Year 9 debaters, Isabelle Seymour, Scarlett Momberg and Eamon O’Neill, for their thoughtfully constructed and delivered argument. Eli Holbeach showed commendable dedication, going to Mt Lawley Senior High School, despite having spent the entire day at his Year 10 Work Experience placement.

Much was learned from this season, such as: how to bring it together on the night, how a witty rebuttal can steal an argument, that even if your POI is brilliant it won’t matter if it never sees the light of day, that dealing with disappointment is a skill, that failing is not as bad as not trying and that much more is often gained from debating than meets the eye.

Well done Juniors, you were the Jean Valjeans of this competition; and you were victors, on the night.

Year 12 Literature and English Conference

This week our Year 12 ATAR English and Literature students participated in the Curtin ATAR English and Literature Conference a full day of ATAR-focused workshops dealing with a diverse selection of presentations, focused on topics such as: Micro fiction,  Reading Film as Multi-modal Text, Literary Adaption and Intertextuality and What is Voice? 

All of the workshops were delivered by experienced examiners, as well as seasoned secondary and tertiary practitioners. Our students gained a great deal from these workshops, because they gave a lot to them. They gave a lot of focus, a lot of consideration and a day worth of time. It is always refreshing, for me, to observe our students in the company of our students from other schools. It always heartens me that our students stand out for their engagement and their overall maturity. Sometimes we need to go out to be reminded how wonderful our students truly are.

Well done Year 12s. Ms Allen and I truly enjoyed our day out with you. 

Mr Damien Kerrigan

HoLA English and Languages