English Matters
Term 4 is a demanding term for our senior students as our HSC candidates commence their final exams and our Year 11 students commence their HSC course. On Monday, HSC English Paper 1 was sat by all Year 12 Advanced English and Standard English students for the new Area of Study - Discovery. On Tuesday, Advanced and Standard students sat separate Paper 2 exams. Our Extension 1 cohort will sit their exam next week. We know that many students have worked exceptionally hard in the lead-up to these exams and we wish them well.
Year 11 Advanced English students have commenced study of the Area of Study - Discovery and have begun delving into their prescribed text The Tempest. This is a conceptual study rather than a critical study of Shakespeare, which allows students to enjoy a more relaxed approach to the play. Standard English students are now studying of Module C: Texts and Society in which they will explore the transitions experienced by characters in JC Burke’s novel The Story of Tom Brennan. Generally, students begin their HSC course with the Area of Study, however, this year the number of Standard English assessment tasks has been changed from six tasks to five with the aim of minimising the workload and subsequent stress experienced by HSC candidates. As such, the structure of the course has been altered to accommodate this. English Studies students are presently completing a unit on Sport and will compose a Motivation Presentation as their assessment later in the term. Although Term 4 Senior English assessment tasks are not due until week 7 or later, the tasks will be made available to students by the end of this week to assist them in improving their planning and time-management strategies.
Recently Year 10 students were visited by author and writer Gabrielle Tozer, who is a former Wagga girl and graduate of Kooringal High School. Gabrielle spoke to students about what is involved in pursuing a career in writing, the importance of persistence and ways to find inspiration in the world around you. The question time at the end generated a fruitful discussion and reflected the level of interest students had in this experience. We are thankful to the staff of the Gateway Bookshop who facilitated this visit. This term Year 10 students have commenced their study of Macbeth. They will complete an exam on their Term 3 and Term 4 work during the exam period. Year 9 students are also studying Shakespeare this term, with a focus on Romeo and Juliet. They too will sit an exam during the exam period. Mrs Baggio is leading Year 8 in an introductory unit to drama and Shakespeare. Students are currently immersed in the world of Elizabethan England. Later in the term they will create a presentation that demonstrates their understanding of Shakespeare’s world and the influences on his plays.
Finally, our Year 7 TED students recently completed a HSIE and English Unit, ‘Perspectives of the Great Barrier Reef’ where they selected a perspective on dredging, gathered relevant, useful and appropriate information and used this to create a presentation. Students decided on presentation forms from the options of: advertisement scripts, web pages, composing a suite of poetry or lyrics to a song and writing a persuasive letter. Students participated in English workshops to assist them with creating their chosen presentation. The cohort produced a range of presentations. In addition to composing their own texts, students also participated in peer and self evaluations of their work, taking on feedback to produce a final polished piece. This week, TED students, their teacher and their parents/carers participated in learning evaluation conferences where learning conversations were driven by students. This experience was a fantastic reflection of the power of student-centred learning. Congratulation to the TED Team on facilitating such a valuable experience for our learning community.
You can follow what we are doing in English and ConnecTED Learning on Twitter: @MDCC_English @ConnecTED_MDCC
Ms Lauren Verdon
English KLA Leader