VCE English News

On Friday 9 August the Year 12 VCE English students spent the day in the city participating in one of the Australian Centre of the Moving Image (ACMI) VCE Programs. Despite the freezing cold and persistent rain, a delayed train, an overpriced food court and an (allegedly) directionally-challenged teacher the program proved extremely beneficial to all.

All the Year 12 VCE English students are required to undertake a comparison of two texts, Tracks, a memoir, and the film, Charlie’s Country, as part of their studies. The ACMI program allowed for the students to view the film, Charlie’s Country, in the way it was made to be seen – in a proper cinema. This meant the students were able to let the slow rhythm of the film unfold while sitting in the comfortable seats, free of the distractions of our modern life, especially the phone!

The film, Charlie’s Country, explores an Aboriginal man’s struggles to navigate the society he finds himself in, especially when he tries to reconnect with the traditional ways of his people. It was, at times, a confronting film and raised many interesting questions about the Aboriginal experience in modern Australia. The one hour lecture following the film pick up on many of these questions and compared them to the other text being studied, Tracks, by Robyn Davidson. The lecturer, Susan Bye was able to guide the students through many of the similarities and differences between the two texts. Our English classes will be investigating more deeply many of those points in the coming weeks.

Overall it was an enjoyable day where it great to see our well-behaved students actively engaged outside of the normal classroom environment. I would like to thank Mr Maloney (organisation and attending) and Mr Rowland (organisation) for their support in running the excursion.

Mr  Paul Rycroft

English Domain Coordinator