English Department Spotlight
English classes across THS have had a strong start to the year!
Year 7 students started their English secondary school experience by launching into Treasure Talks, oral presentations that focus on sharing their values and what is important to them. A nerve-inducing experience that was met with resilience and engagement. Well done to all those that presented so wonderfully!
Meanwhile, students in Years 8, 9, and 10 opened the year with units on analysing argument, developing the critical reading skills that matter increasingly in today's online landscape. Moving into Term Two, Years 9 and 10 are deep into film study: Year 9 with The Truman Show and Year 10 with Little Miss Sunshine, both texts that reward close attention and lively discussion.
In VCE, English and Literature teachers have been genuinely impressed by the energy of both our Year 12 and Year 11 cohorts. In particular, the responses to the Creating Texts unit in Year 12 English, the newest component of the VCE Study Design, were markedly strong, and a real sign of what this group is capable of. I have added to examples below to demonstrate the aforementioned improvements.
Lastly, the English office remains an energetic and collegial space. A sincere thank you to all staff for their continued effort and commitment to our students.
Isaac Adams - An Opening for his SAC on the idea of Play, titled: ‘Free Play’:
It was dark and rainy as I traipsed down the stairs and out the front door. Thick, heavy droplets fell fast, highlighted against streetlamps, splashing and hissing as they smashed into the bitumen and the concrete. Around me the headlights of cars glared disdainfully with harsh intolerance as they impatiently raced past, and people ran like ants from building to building, heedlessly determined to see shelter from downpour. My umbrella opened with a heavy sigh, and I laggardly began the long trek home.
As I walked, I amused myself with the droplets of water that trickled irregularly down the windscreens of parked cars. Together, you and I used to imagine them as racecars, zooming to the bottom in an erratic battle, but now they seemed to move with a careless freedom, unbothered by the laws of gravity or inertia. I pictured them as birds, soaring with grace into the night sky - until, with a start, I realised a person behind the glass of a particular care, and I hurried on, embarrassed by my staring...
Emily Wilmot - An Opening for her SAC on the idea of Play, titled: ‘Free Play’:
The only time I lose my eyes on my birthday is when I make a wish. It’s a lingering divination - an intrinsic ritual I practice yearly - one that I now practice seriosity. A careful composure slips over me, taught to me by an adulthood that encourages serious faces to be brought into the rooms that expect it; the meetings, the offices, the birthday celebrations. I no longer scrunch up my eyes or puff my cheeks dramatically. I simply let the darkness encompass me and hold onto it for a split second, freeing the litany of dreams and desires and playful fantasies that I’ve learned to suppress - though I still revere - to pass through me.
The candles on the cake curl with melted wax - a growing number year after year yet continuing to emit a familiar unwavering glow. Underneath my eyelids, everything flickers red and gold; my playful wishes alive and free once more, waiting in a place I only reach in this moment…
Year 8 Independent Text Study
Here, we are proud to share below a selection of photos of students engaging with our Year 8 Independent Text Study - a snapshot of the thoughtful reading and writing happening in our English classrooms every day.
The Independent Text Study is a Term Two unit in which every Year 8 student selects a text of their own choosing: a novel, graphic novel, autobiography, short story collection, or another narrative form. The only requirements are that it is enjoyable, appropriately challenging, and something worth thinking about and analysing closely.
To kick the unit off, Year 8 students attended an assembly where Lucy from the THS Library and Emily from Darebin Libraries helped students think through how to find the right book.
The photos below offer a glimpse of Year 8 students engaged in this process. Go team!
Seamus Kavanagh
Head of English
