English

Junior School English Update

It has been a great start to our final term in English for Years 7 to 9. 

Our Year 7 students have been studying the film text ‘Moana’ where they have been viewing and analysing the values of resilience, perseverance, strength and identity. The Year 7 students will be taught how to write their very first essay, using TEEL structure and formal language to show their understanding of the text. The cohort has responded positively to the film text, taking notes, recalling and interpreting information as they view. 

The Years 8 students are studying a Mystery unit this term. They have already read a short story and listened to a Sherlock Holmes podcast to help build their understanding of the conventions of the mystery genre. The cohort will continue to be exposed to different text types of the same genre throughout the term before creating their own mystery narrative, using inspiration from the many texts studied. 

In term 4, the Year 9 cohort will complete a brand-new unit to this school. We will be studying the film text ‘Rise’ about NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo. In this unit, students will analyse the impact of racism on communities, the importance of having ambition and dreams for our future and how your family plays a key role in shaping our lives. This unit will culminate in the students completing their first face-to-face essay, having only ever completed essay writing through remote learning in the past. 

For any parent or guardian interested in our text studies and would like to read, view or listen to them themselves, ‘Rise’ and ‘Moana’ are both available on Disney Plus to watch. The mystery texts read in Year 8 include ‘The Almost Perfect Crime’ by Henry Holt as part of the Detective Silver stories and ‘The Murder of Monsieur Pierre’ by Harriet Whitehorn. 

The Year 8 students have also listened to a Sherlock Holmes podcast that can be found through this website: https://www.fictional.fm/blog/2020/5/5/the-devil-went-down-to-cornwall

A great way to encourage learning and literacy at home is to familiarise yourself with the text that your child is studying and ask them recall and clarifying questions about the plot and/or characters. To extend your child’s learning, ask them for their opinions on the text and to use evidence from the text to support their ideas. 

Rebecca Lucas

Literacy Learning Specialist