English

Year level: 2 

This Term, in Year Two English Innovation, Learners will deepen their understanding of a purposeful character within their writing. They will build explicit features of a character through various methods of planning, so they are set up for success in bringing their character to life. Learners will unpack immersive planning strategies that help to describe and analyse what their fictional character would say, act and look like if they were real. Once a deep understanding of a character profile is built, a storyline will follow which merges these characters together. Moving forward, they will use this character as a base to build an engaging narrative. 

This learning requires a high ability in developing personality traits, and narrative structure. A strong character profile includes details such as age, appearance, and background but also deeper insights into the character's motivations, fears, desires, and relationships. Learners will deepen their profiles to show how these elements influence the character's actions and decisions within a story. Learners will be able to create multifaceted, believable characters who feel real to the reader, using both direct description and subtle implications. Their writing will reflect a clear understanding of how to integrate these profiles into larger narratives, ensuring that characters contribute meaningfully to plot development.  

Year level: 3 

This Term in English Innovation, learners will be exploring how authors strategically plant seeds within their writing so they can build towards an engaging ending in their narratives. We will focus on how text clues are used to enhance and capture the audience’s attention right till the conclusion of an engaging piece. Learners will understand that an engaging ending involves leaving readers with a sense of closure while also sparking curiosity or reflection. By carefully planting text clues throughout the story, writes will guide their target audience toward the ending, allowing them to feel a sense of discovery when everything falls into place. These clues will be subtle details, repeated phrases, or foreshadowing elements that hint at the conclusion without giving it away too soon. Learners will understand that a well-crafted ending ties together text clues in a satisfying way, offering a payoff that resonates emotionally or thematically.  

This learning requires a deep understanding of foreshadowing, character development, pacing, emotional resonance, symbolism and closure. These key elements will be brought together in a strategic manner to leave the audience with a sense of wonder and content.  

Year level: 4 

This term, in Year Four English Innovation, students are embarking on a rigorous and immersive exploration of the writing process, guided by renowned author Andy Lee as a mentor. This term, they are dissecting the depth of preparatory work an author undertakes before producing a polished piece, uncovering the meticulous layers of research, ideation, and drafting that underpin exceptional storytelling. 

Students will engage in conversational research, refining their ability to extract meaningful insights from discussions, interviews, and observations. By critically analysing audience expectations and stylistic choices, they will sharpen their capacity to tailor their writing for maximum impact. Their learning will be enriched by elements of the Year Five and Six curriculum, challenging them to integrate sophisticated literary techniques, complex sentence structures, and refined authorial intent into their work. 

This learning requires a high level of analytical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. Students will not only write but craft—applying feedback, experimenting with tone and voice, and producing texts that demonstrate deep engagement with their intended audience. By the end of the unit, these young authors will have developed a nuanced appreciation of the writing process and the skills to communicate with clarity, purpose, and authenticity. 

Year level: 5 

During Term 1, the English Innovators will analyse the writing techniques employed by authors of picture story books to deliver deep and complex messages through language that resonates with a younger audience. They will develop a deeper understanding of the deliberate decisions made by authors when choosing still images, formatting of pages, pictures and texts, choice of vocabulary, pacing of the story and different perspectives, and apply these into their writing. Connecting with their Inquiry unit, the learners will explore themes of resilience in communities through adversities, to plan, draft and publish a picture story book of their own, based on historical events.   

Year level: 6 

During term 1, the English Innovators will explore how writers make intentional choices in their writing to effectively communicate their ideologies and values to an audience. They will investigate how different organisations use language as a medium to drive their agendas to sway public opinion and amass influence over the general population. Using this knowledge, learners will create a mascot for the school that embodies the values of the Glen Waverley Primary School community and produce texts that communicate the suitability of their mascot. This will culminate into a campaign, in which the English Innovators will collaboratively generate multimodal texts to promote their mascots to garner interest and influence the opinion of the school community in favour of their mascot. Through a school-wide vote, a Glen Waverley Primary School mascot for 2025 will be elected.