English News

VCE English options presentation

The VCE English Taste tester showcase - delivered by our amazing English captains Freya Harrison and Yenuli Sumathirathne - was an amazing presentation that delivered multiple vital insights. Their student-led session was really engaging as well as super informative as they offered priceless information and clarity for what VCE English could look like at Nossal.

Freya and Yenuli highlighted the distinct qualities for all three Englishes with engaging enthusiasm and eloquence. During the presentation they clearly outlined the required aptitudes and commitment to work in order to do well for each English.

The English captains summarised how English language is a methodical, science-like subject while English literature is driven by deep analytical thinking and English Mainstream as a safe option that continues upon Year 10 English.

They went through all the English options at Nossal really clearly, explained what to expect with the heavier workloads in English Literature and Language, took us through the Units for each subject, and even shared the reading list that the English team had put together, by the end, everyone felt a lot more confident about VCE English.

Massive thanks to Freya Harrison, Yenuli Sumathirathne and all the English teachers for taking the time to organise such an insightful English showcase session for all the Year 10s!

By Alyssa Lee

Top Scribe

Literature students at Nossal are given an amazing breadth of freedom in our Creative Response SAC, allowing us an incredibly wide range of possibilities to properly capture our individual skills and prowess. We are provided with two texts to base our Creative Responses on, this year being Thea Astley's Drylands and China Miéville's The City and the City. We spend a thoughtful few lessons studying each text, ensuring our understanding of the authors' language and style. After we've been given time to brainstorm, we draft our idea on the page and, along with guidance from our teachers and our peers, we are able to adapt our best possible concept into a proper piece.

Last year, Unit 3/4 student Lavanya Jyothis was a part of Top Scribe, meaning her Creative Response piece "Shorelines" was submitted to VCAA and deemed to be one of the 25 best in the entire state. On Friday 5 June, the Top Scribe 2026 Anthology launch took place, celebrating the amazing work of Lavanya and 24 other outstanding VCE Literature students, which our English and Literature teacher Ms Faulkner was pleased to attend. We are so lucky at Nossal to have such talented alumni to look up to and study as well as such informed and wise teachers to guide us on our literature journey.

By Freya Harrison