ENGLISH REPORT

The Benefits of Reading

In the English faculty, we actively promote reading for pleasure. For our junior students in Years 7 & 8, this takes the form of designated reading sessions at the beginning of each timetabled English lesson and at the start of every afternoon (Lesson 4) class with the exception of PE.

There are many benefits to reading books. Every single book a person reads offers them endless opportunities to explore and learn new ideas. When a person reads, not only do they gain information and knowledge but they also benefit in other ways. 

1. It promotes vocabulary growth: This is an inevitable consequence of reading. The more you read, the more you expose yourself to new words that slowly become a part of your usual repertoire. 
2. It promotes improved imagination: When reading a fiction book, you have to imagine its contents–for example, its characters and settings. This stimulates your brain and promotes imagination in other aspects of your daily life.
3. It promotes better communication and conversation skills: Most readers find it easy to express themselves. Having a good imagination and quality vocabulary gives you an upper hand when constructing simple and complex sentences suited for different occasions like interviews and day-to-day conversations.
4. It promotes improved memory: Fictional stories are full of details that can help people remember long-term goals and actions. As you read each chapter of a fictional story, you have to remember the characters, conversations and plot to make sense of what happens next.
5. It promotes an ability to focus: While reading, your mind is engaged in a healthy activity. Your brain is working on absorbing information, remembering details, and following the storyline. This is a great exercise for your brain. On top of this, keeping your mind occupied with the plot of the story trains your brain to focus on a task for longer periods of time.

We encourage all parents to take an interest in their children’s reading habits and to promote reading for pleasure at every opportunity. 

English Book List 2024

Elsewhere in this newsletter, Mr Lane has drawn attention to the early orders booklist for English texts. We encourage all parents to complete this form so that your children can read the first of next year’s listed texts before returning to school at the end of January.

Here, for your information, is the full list of texts to be studied in 2024. 

Novels & plays

Year 7     9781742036427           Last Man Out (Louise Park)

                 9781865086941           Parvana (Deborah Ellis)

Year 8     9781761045943          Cop & Robber (Tristan Bancks)

                  9781925126365          Freedom Ride (Sue Lawson)**

** Based on historical events in 1965, the novel focuses on simmering racial tensions in the fictional NSW town of Wingaree. Consequently, the novel’s dialogue may occasionally be confronting for some readers. However, this not only enhances the novel’s authenticity but will also encourage readers to evaluate the power of language.

Year 9     9781742372389    The Happiest Refugee (Anh Do)

                  9781107615496   Macbeth (William Shakespeare)

                  9781559365604   Dear Evan Hansen (Steven Leveson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul)

Year 10   9781922147691        Nine Days (Toni Jordan)

                  9780141038995        Night (Elie Wiesel)

Year 11  9780141182551        The Crucible (Arthur Miller)

                 9780141029542        The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Mohsin Hamid)

Year 12  9781107619890       Much Ado About Nothing (William Shakespeare)

                 9781473635302       Born a Crime (Trevor Noah)

Senior Textbooks

Year 10   9781922771599     Insight Senior English Skills: Preparing for VCE English

Year 11   7981922525925     Insight English Year 11: VCE Units 1 & 2

Year 12   9781922771513     Insight English Year 12: VCE Units 3 & 4

                  9781922771674     Insight Framework of Ideas: Writing about protest 

Please note that if you choose not to order any of these texts through Campion Education, it is essential that you identify the correct copy of a text by using its ISBN. 

What’s happening in English at present?

Year 7: Text Study: The students will wrap up their exploration of The Witches in two weeks’ time before beginning a unit on sustainability. Their assessment task will be a PEELM paragraph writing task.

Year 8: Villains: The students have just begun a new unit exploring the characteristics of literary villains throughout the ages. They will continue this for the next five weeks.

Year 9: Human Connection: The students are beginning their project work to explore how human connection is linked to mental health. They will use Dear Evan Hansen as their mentor text.

Year 10: Film-as-text study: The students are continuing their study of The Great Gatsby, which will culminate with an analytical essay as the assessment in another three weeks’ time.

Year 11: Persuasive Speeches: Having completed their study of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the students will draft and present persuasive orals on topics of their own choosing. This will be followed by exam revision.

Year 12: VCE Exam Preparation: With the students finishing timetabled classes next week, the focus shifts to preparation for the English and EAL/D exams on Tuesday 24th October, beginning at 9.00 am.