English Faculty

As we approach the end of the year, the English faculty would like to congratulate all of the junior students on the completion of the end of year exams. During what is often a stressful time trying to balance exams across all subjects, while maintaining busy social schedules, students demonstrated resilience and produced some outstanding work that reflected their hard work across the year. 

We would also like to extend our congratulations to our Year 12 Class of 2024, who have now completed their HSC English examinations. Your achievements have made us so proud and have given us great confidence that you will achieve immense success in the future. The Francis Greenway High School English faculty will sorely miss you but we look forward to celebrating your triumphs at the upcoming formal. May you go forth to encounter your very own human experiences in the post schooling world!

While it may feel like our learning is coming to an end for the year, it is important to remember that these finals weeks before the summer break are used to consolidate students’ skills in preparation for the best start when school returns in 2025. In particular, Year 10 students who will be busy preparing for the huge leap into senior school are reminded that it is an expectation that all students will have a laptop or other suitable BYOD device in Stage 6. 

Throughout this term, Year 11 students across all three classes have had a strong start to the study of Texts and Human Experiences, their first module of the Year 12 course, and the only common module. The English faculty have been thoroughly enjoying guiding their students through the revision of the distinctive features of film and exploring a range of different related texts which will complement their study of the prescribed text, Stephen Daldry’s ‘Billy Elliot’. Students are reminded to keep up to date with all classwork, complete homework and revision tasks as directed by your teacher, and ensure positive study habits are formed now to foster a productive return in Term 1. All Year 11 students will complete their first assessment of the HSC course in the final week of Term 4. English Advanced and Standard students will also be issued with texts to read over the summer holiday break. English Advanced students will be reading ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare and ‘Hagseed’ by Margaret Atwood, while English Standard students will be reading ‘The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime’ by Mark Haddon. Year 11 students must engage with these texts over the holidays to ensure they are prepared for the ongoing rigor of Year 12 coursework.

The Francis Greenway English Writing Competition was a great success this year and showcased the breadth of talent we have within our school community. Participants were asked to compose a discursive or imaginative response that explored the ‘supernatural’, which reflected a strong ability to create atmosphere and mood. We understand how important it is to write with purpose, so our prizes this year certainly motivated students to deliver their best work, with the 1st place winner from each stage receiving a $200 voucher, 2nd place receiving $100 and 3rd place taking home $50. Congratulations to our stage winners below: 

Stage 4 - 600 to 800 words 

1st Place: Jake Smith - Year 7

2nd Place: Keira Sharrock - Year 7

3rd Place: Alyssah Green - Year 7

Stage 5 - 700 to 900 words 

1st Place: Sienna Thomson - Year 10

2nd Place: Reyn Williams - Year 10

3rd Place: Liddell McCosker - Year 10

Stage 6 - 800 to 1000 words 

1st Place: Ruby Curry - Year 12

2nd Place: Lochlan Chapman - Year 11

3rd Place: Lily Martin - Year 12

Tamara Love

English Teacher