ENGLISH

EXCITING ENGLISH ELECTIVES

As Term Two comes to a close, so too do many semester based English electives for our English students. Across Years 9 and 10, students can select a variety of semester-based electives that suit their interests. Subjects include English Skills, Journalism, Literature, Creative Writing and Film Studies.

Here are what some of our students have to say about completing these English electives in Semester One: 

Film Studies is more than just a class where you get to watch movies. It’s a gateway to other worlds that are so much unlike our own. These worlds range from Nazi Germany to a mental hospital, to a prison, to a Johannesburg with alien refugees to even a dystopian London and more. These were only a few of the films that we got to watch, and a majority of the class (myself included) had seen none of them previously. 

It's because of Film Studies that I can now say that The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favourite films of all time. The learning tasks that we got to do ranged from the typical English essay to creating our own short two-minute films. That was one of the best things that I have ever done in this school. After each movie, Miss Douglas asks us what we thought of each film, eager to hear our own opinions which offered a freedom to praise or criticize each film we watched, which were all wildly different from each other. Picking Film Studies was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and each class was as magical as the last.  

Finn Steven, Year 10

Film Studies Student

I have enjoyed writing for the longest time; the creative writing unit in English has always been my favourite unit of the year. So, when I was given the opportunity to select electives for Year 9, I almost immediately knew I wanted to choose Literature. After selections, I heard a few people tell me Literature was hard. These rumours couldn’t have been further from the truth.

In Year 9 Literature, the focus is on studying various classic texts and using them as inspiration for your own creative writing pieces. We annotated and analysed famous texts including Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Catcher In The Rye, A Study In Scarlet - the original novel featuring Sherlock Holmes - Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.

My favourite part of Literature was getting to use these texts, which are different from anything we study in mainstream English, in our own creative pieces. The subject focuses on consolidating and enhancing our writing skills in a classroom with like-minded students. It was particularly helpful for me to get a chance to write more and have helpful feedback from a teacher who is passionate about English.

Overall, if you enjoy reading, creative writing or simply want an extension to the work in mainstream English, I highly recommend selecting Literature for Year 9 and beyond. 

Kassandra Vasilikakis, Year 9

Literature Student

I sincerely wish everyone a wonderful Winter holiday break. We are looking forward to another exciting time in English for Semester Two.

Charlotte Douglas

English KLA Manager