ENGLISH & HISTORY FACULTY

The English and History Faculty is off to a busy start in 2023. We are privileged to work with all students across Wyndham College and it has been wonderful to welcome Year 11 with our Reading to Write and Achieving Through English modules of work. Students in Advanced and Standard are reflecting on their reading experiences and experimenting with their creative writing, whilst English Studies students are preparing for a mock job interview for their dream job – lots of different ambitions out there!

Year 12 English

Year 12 Advanced English students were fortunate to attend a recent performance and workshop day with Sport for Jove for their current module, Textual Conversations. With the focus on Shakespeare’s Richard III and Looking for Richard, students came away with an enriched understanding of their texts and are no doubt looking forward to deploying their learning for the upcoming assessment in Focus Week. 

Students in both Standard and Advanced English will be completing a task during Focus Week and are commended on their hard work in class.

History Update

Year 11 and Year 12 students have a wonderful team of teachers on board this year, with Dimitri continuing with his Year 12 Modern History class, Gina returning after a break and Lachlan joining us for the first time. 

Students in all courses will undertake assessments in Week 9, and have been working diligently on their research toward these.

Debating and Public Speaking

Debating is getting off the ground again after a short hiatus at Wyndham College. Two teams of students will participate in the Premier’s Debating Challenge in the coming weeks and we wish them luck!

Year 11 student, Rihanna Ali, recently participated in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Public Speaking Competition. Her speech, ‘Shifting Gears’, skillfully reflected her experiences of moving from junior to senior high school. Rihanna spoke confidently in front of a room full of students, teachers and parents, delivering her message with conviction. 

Students interested in learning more about Debating or Public Speaking are welcome to come along to our Wednesday Recess meetings in the Library.

Creative Writing - Year 11 Advanced English

The English and History Faculty thought it would be deserving to promote some of our students’ work and ability. With growing numbers in the Advanced and Extension courses, the faculty would like to further endorse this growth by allowing the greater Wyndham community to also share in the promise of what this cohort brings, writing with sophistication and flair.

All students in Year 11 start out with a creative piece. Here are a few snippets, taken from the introductions of student work and inspired by the idea of the unknown, a journey, a path of enlightenment and the like. Can you see that in their introductions?

Winds of dazzling specks dance across my shoes as this ray of light strikes me. The ground beneath, vibrates, yet it is solid and reassuring. Strutting north on this foreign set, a young lady spits abruptly and kisses me with her wretched nose. Lavender rose showered with curiosity, as my hairs of intuitiveness shot up like a rifle and my eyes shifted to the bigger picture…

Arielle 

My blue eyes pouring like rain, turn my pupils to a bloody red. I close them, as a pulsing ache forms in my head. My rough, cracked and bloodied hands reach for my temples that slowly fall down, as my face withers away. As I begin to walk back on the dry ashes left on the path I walked mere moments ago. With so much hope and calamity, that starts to feign into insignificance. As I continue back down the path, my bare skin cracking and aching with every step I stop…

Analese 

My leather boots tread the sand, and with every step I take, I can hear its voice getting louder. The heat of the merciless sun pours down on me, whilst my sweat evaporates and joins the clouds. I can feel the judgement of civilians taking up the air around me. The more I follow the voice, the more I feel my wish is granted. The sound of conversations, wild dogs barking and the commotion of the busy town follow my ear…

Tyson 

Wood crackled in my face. Screams echoed from the shore. Bullets poured from the sky. As I frantically sprinted towards the beach, flesh crumpled beneath my boots. Dismembered limbs here, mangled faces there. I stared in horror at the mortar shell coming my way. As I felt its earth-shattering impact beneath my feet, I heard a voice, “John you’re okay. Stay with me please.” As I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar face of one of the mental ward’s nurses.

Michael 

The heat of dry desert lingers throughout this sea of sandstone buildings. As I walk along this path beside the road, I eventually reach a lookout point where I can see the main attraction of this city. It is a statue of the God, Beerus the Might Sand Grizzly. It was said long ago that Berrus fought off the demons of this desert and freed the people to build this city.

Phillip