English News
English Revision Lectures
As the weeks fly, the Year 12 students of Nossal High School are brought closer and closer to the start of the VCE examination period. Consequently, many of us are feeling the heat and fear the looming prospect of being underprepared for what might be thrown at us - a fear that’s been exacerbated by the unique circumstances of this year. Yet despite the limitations of online learning and COVID restrictions, the English Domain was still able to organise for us online lectures for English, English Language and Literature respectively, which we were able to watch from the comfort of our own homes, as either live events or recorded sessions. This made the lectures easily accessible, as students were able to listen to the content as many times as needed.
Last year, the Year 11 Literature students first met Margot Thompson during her revision lecture at Nossal, mainly organised for the Year 12 students facing the exam in a matter of weeks. However, we were still able to join in and anticipate what we would experience come the next year. Once again, this year, we listened as Margot gave much appreciated insight into the best methods to approach the Literature VCE exam. Her wonderful lecture was full of informative and useful slides that detailed example paragraphs, excerpts from the examination reports and tips for effective preparation leading up to the exam.
Karen Graham similarly offered us a myriad of tips and tricks to take with us into the English exam, breaking down the various aspects of the required tasks clearly and concisely, whilst offering some great insight into the texts. As students it was a great opportunity to gain a clearer understanding of what the examiners are looking for, and so the experience has left us much better prepared for the end of the year.
The English Language students were not left behind either, as Selina Dennis was able to give a comprehensive breakdown of the coursework, leaving them well-equipped for the remainder of the year.
Again, we would like to say thank you to Margot, Karen, Selina and the staff of the English Domain for making the Year 12 students a little bit less stressed for our upcoming exams.
Ruth Jara & Daniel Cameron
Year 12
Creative Writing Success
The KYD School Writing Prize is a prestigious competition for aspiring young writers to submit pieces about social or political issues that concern them. This year’s judges were award-winning author Alice Pung and KYD editor Alan Vaarwerk.
The competition was advertised in the Creative Writing Club earlier this year, and we are delighted to announce that two of our members have been recognised for their entries!
Congratulations to Neha De Alwis (Year 12) for receiving the honour of winning the 2020 KYD School Writing Prize! Her poetic and thoughtful short story, ‘Termites’, was described by the judges as being “inventive and engaging”, “fresh and compelling”, and “one of the most original stories I [they] have read”.
We’d further like to congratulate Ruth Jarra (Year 12), who has been highly commended by the judges for her entry ‘ The Price of Inaction’, which exhibits her elegant writing voice and exceptional talent.
The students’ entries will be posted in a future newsletter once they have been published in the KYD magazine.
Best wishes to both of these uniquely gifted students for their future writing endeavours.
Biruntha Muhunthan
Creative Writing Club Leader