English News

Welcome back to the 2014 school year. Term 1 sees some new opportunities for our Mater Dei English students. This weekend our Extension 2 students are taking up the free writing workshop on offer at the Wagga Gallery, with the prospect of reading their work the following week.  Next month Bell Shakespeare will visit our Year 9 students to present their production ‘Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow’, and in a couple of weeks a new Australian writer will visit to speak with our Year 11 and 12 Extension students about the writing process.

Earlier this term I emailed Year 8 parents outlining our approach to English this year, which includes team teaching and guided enquiry as priorities for 2014. Explicit teaching of the requisite skills and structures for secondary English students complements these practices. The result of explicit planning for teaching staff has been a more focused and direct approach to the curriculum. First and foremost, we are teachers of the English language.

Students in Year 9 have commenced their NAPLAN preparation for Literacy, focusing on spelling and the persuasive and narrative text types. Year 8 are again participating in the Accelerated Reader program and I encourage parents to continue to check on your child’s progress in the program.

Preliminary English Studies students have been exploring career options and resume writing. Students were given the opportunity to source assistance from Jenny Kelleher, an ATEL employment officer. They were given first hand advice on how to write effective resumes and be successful in interviews.

Internationally, this month sees the announcement of the winner of the British Folio Prize which ‘is the first major English language book prize open to writers from around the world. Its aim is simple: to celebrate the best fiction of our time, regardless of form or genre, and to bring it to the attention of as many readers as possible’. 

I have attached a short video for you, which highlights the merits of books, of reading and of writing. In our contemporary world it is satisfying to see that there are those who still value these cornerstones and who speak the common language of the book enthusiast!

Ms Ruth Fraser

English KLA Leader