English Learning Area Leader Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

I hope as we near the end of Term 2 that you have had a productive and enjoyable term. 

In English, we have had a busy semester with students working on both creative, persuasive and analytical tasks. It has been pleasing to see students really start to develop more of a unique and confident voice as a result of the changes made to English in the Victorian Curriculum 2.0. 

Writing Skills Include Handwriting

Although students require digital literacy skills in today’s age, they still need to be able to write by hand! 

Senior students have recently completed their mid-year exams. For some students, this would have been their first exam experience; for others, they have had a bit more practice. All students, whether just beginning or seasoned experts, are ultimately developing skills to ready them for an end-of-year exam in Year 12 that requires them to write three essays in three hours, by hand. Yes, this is irrefutably a huge task, but one factor that makes it harder is when students haven’t built the strength to write consistently and clearly for extended periods of time. Handwriting often becomes illegible, and illegible writing means marks lost. 

While we are working on supporting this in our classrooms through timed writing, longer essay responses, and handwritten tasks instead of digital tasks, please encourage your child to practise writing by hand at home too. While their homework might not look as pretty, a mark that properly reflects their understanding certainly will!

Building Critical Thinking Skills in English

A key focus across the English curriculum this semester has been engaging with current national issues, either through our Analysis of Argument units in Middle and Senior School, or Debating and Persuasive Writing units in the lower year levels. 

As adults, we are aware of the value of being able to access, evaluate, and analyse the material we are exposed to. We understand that critically engaging with information is not only part of our role as citizens, but vital to our autonomy and power. However, this isn’t always obvious to students who are growing up in an AI-powered world where efficiency is often prioritised over understanding, and trust in technology is not only expected, but actively encouraged. They, like us, also live in a time where fiction is often disseminated as fact, and exposure to diversity in opinion is being challenged. 

This is where we, teachers and parents alike, come in as mentors for young people. 

Our curriculum is designed to have students critically engage with what they read, considering how they are being positioned as audiences and how valid authors’ arguments actually are. Being able to spot misinformation, identify biases and stakes, and recognise how messages may be curated to shape individuals’ worldview is essential in modern society, and we are actively trying to build these skills due to their importance. Further, we have been increasing students’ exposure to a wide variety of perspectives on a singular issue, as this moves students away from the danger of echo chambers where they are only interacting with opinions that mirror their own.  

How might these skills be further developed at home?

• Ask your child ‘Why?’, ‘How do you know?’, and ‘Who might think differently?’

  Encourage them to justify their opinions with evidence. Even something as simple as asking your child why they liked a film/book/event, or why they agree with a certain perspective (like one held by their favourite celebrity etc.) supports them in critiquing not only what they think, but why they think it.  

   

• Help them to explore different perspectives

  Discuss with them who might agree or disagree and most importantly, why. 

   

• Encourage healthy debate 

  This one can be tricky, but creating opportunities for respectful disagreement at home helps students to feel more empowered in forming their own beliefs. One of my favourite activities we complete with our elective Debating class in Year 9 is a game called ‘I disagree because…’, where students can pose any statement to the rest of the class and other students have to consider reasons why this might be wrong or in need of refinement. 

   

• Ask your child ‘What do they want you to think?’

  When engaging with any source - written, visual, spoken - discuss with your child what the author/creator wants their audience to think after consuming it. This helps students to better understand that material is created for a purpose and that they are being positioned to respond in a certain way.  

   

• Ask your child about the source their information comes from

  This is an important one! With such a wealth of information at their fingertips, it can be easy to get lost. Asking your child to answer, ‘Who wrote it? How do they know?’ will help them to start thinking about not just what is said, but whether it is valid and informed. 

   

Working on this together will help us to send students into wider society as capable rather than passive citizens. We have all heard the phrase ‘Knowledge is power’, yet I would refine this for our modern age: ‘’Knowledge is power, but only when it has first been critically examined’. 

I wish you all a safe and happy break. 

Kate Mottershead

Learning Area Leader - English