English Faculty

It’s been a term of dystopian worlds, protest poetry and heroes’ journeys for our students, and one full of curiosity, investigation and creativity. As our topics conclude students are to be congratulated on their engagement in class throughout the past ten weeks. 

Our Bellbird Literary Magazine team has been working hard on the 3rd issue throughout this semester. The Bellbird Literary Magazine is a biannual publication of student work from across the school. A small student-led editorial team is responsible for the planning, creation and eventual publication of each issue. Thank you to Miss Melissa Jackson for coordinating the team and providing an important platform for all our young writers. 

We’ve had considerable success in the Stage 6 Premier’s Debating Competition this year. Both of our teams have won several debates and have progressed deep into the competition. In Stage 6, teams can be paired against a team from anywhere in the state, with the debates held online. Lily Els, Lily Arendse, Madeleine Parker, Leilani Gilham and Pavani Pathak made it through to the third round of the competition, while at the time of writing, the team of Sydney Andrews, Ethan Hull, Will Bonny and Min Byun are still alive in Round 4. All these students are in Year 11 and are often paired against experienced Year 12 debaters. Congratulations to both teams for their incredible efforts this year.

Our Stage 4 and 5 teams have just begun their round robin campaigns and we wish them all the best in their upcoming debates. 

These upcoming winter holidays are an important time for Year 12 students to revise previous texts and topics in preparation for their upcoming Trial HSC Examinations. Year 12 students are encouraged to access past HSC questions and seek feedback from their English teachers in this critical time period. 

This is also an important time for our Year 10 students who are currently deciding on their Stage 6 subject pattern for their HSC. It was great to see so many parents and caregivers at the Subject Selection Evenings these past few weeks and I encourage students to seek out their current English teacher for advice, should they still be unsure as to which strand of English to choose for 2025. 

Blake Wawrzyk

Head Teacher English