SCHOOL NEWS
YEAR 12 STUDY CAMP - WRITING WORKSHOPS
The Year 12 English and EAL courses begin with a unit on Creative Writing, where students study a creative text and then construct their own short story to fit within the world of that text. The English classes are exploring Cate Kennedy's short stories and the EAL classes are studying Hannie Rayson's play, Extinction.
In order to inspire and motivate the students and to develop their creative writing skills, workshops were run during the first day of the Year 12 Study Camp.
Mark Smith, a published author and a current teacher, spoke to the Year 12 English group. He talked about his journey towards publication of these short stories and novels and his experiences as a writer in Melbourne. His two messages to the students were the power of editing and the importance of 'people, place and problem'. He then ran some workshop activities focusing on these areas. The students had to develop sentences based on a particular person, in a particular place, faced with a particular problem. The students were engaged in the task and have learnt skills that can be applied to their upcoming SAC.
Ms Oh drove down to Philip Island for the day to work closely with her EAL students. These students also worked on their creative writing skills, lucky to have both Ms Oh and a sunny day where they could work outside. Students began the day reading the opening scenes of the Hannie Rayson's play Extinction and learning about the world of text. We soon realised the year level was full of undiscovered acting talent, including the irrepressible Kaiyang Jin.
As part of the introduction to the creative writing unit, students created their own monologues and dialogues filling in gaps and silences in the text.
Although the students were sad to miss their Lunar New Year festivities, they had much fun performing outside in the sun.
We are sure that these workshops would have sparked ideas that will help them launch in to the first SAC with greater confidence.
Ms Kellie Dickson and Ms Maddy Oh
Year 12 English and EAL teachers
YEAR 12 CAMP
On Monday 4 February, we set off towards Phillip Island for our last camp of secondary school. Once we arrived we headed to the auditorium for an introduction to the camp, and received our t-shirts, most of which fit perfectly. After rooms were allocated, we shared a quick and delicious lunch before hearing an inspiring and educational speech by Mark Smith, author of the The Road to Winter, who was kind enough to supply us with a range of skills to use in our English classes.
After some free time, it was off to another seminar to discuss study skills, followed by a time management session and an array of “entertaining” acts in the talent show, which were judged by a panel of teachers who were wowed at some performances, and mildly amused at others. Either way, the students seemed to approve.
Day two dawned to the sounds of tired but excited Year 12s. A day of activities ranged from giant swings, to raft building, to saving a headless mannequin called Jae. The day ended with an inspirational and legendary, albeit loud, speech from MC Hudd, who encouraged us to play hard and work harder.
Wednesday was a late start, and after breakfast those running for Leadership positions presented their compelling speeches before bidding farewell to the Island. Arriving back at school was a sad reality after a great camp, with the realisation that we have only 140(ish) school days to go as McKinnon students before our final classes together.
Moira Rodriquez
Year 12 Student