English

Secondary English in Term One

The year is well under way and the Secondary English team is toiling to improve the literacy, creativity and critical thinking skills of our students. Every year level and every teacher is working hard on different texts and units to prepare our students for the wonderful world of ideas, communication and deep thinking. To this end, we are encouraging and insisting that our students read for at least 15 minutes each day. We are also using the ‘Wordflyers’ literacy program to bolster skills and test what they have learned in class.

In Year 7 this term the students go through English boot camp to create a solid base for the rest of the learning they do this year. All information comes to us through the English language and if our 7 students don’t know their parts of speech, how to spell, how to use prefixes and suffixes, the functions of clauses, sentence types and how to use them accurately then everything becomes that little bit harder. When they do understand these concepts and skills then they grow in confidence for all the learning they do in all their subjects. So far, so good.

Our English Learning Leader Matt Povey is working with our 7 V.I.A (Veritas Innovate Accelerate) class to extend their literacy and critical thinking skills. They are studying the novel ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar about a boy who is punished for crime he did not commit. Unlike the protagonist of this novel these students are being rewarded, challenged and extended for their commitment to learning and excellence.

In 8 English students are developing their skills through the prism of advertising. They must understand persuasive techniques to create their own print advertisements, manipulate audiences and communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing. It has been challenging this term and a few of us have noticed the effects of the COVID situation and ensuing lockdowns last year. It seems that students need a little reminding that they do have skills and can manage the work. Along with literacy learning we have to rebuild some confidence in some of our students. That’s okay though, that’s what we’re here for, it’s what we love to do and we’re up to the challenge.

In Years 9 and 10 students have been working on issues and persuasive language. They analyse articles, write their own persuasive pieces and present persuasive talks on current issues of their own choosing. Evaluating other people’s opinions is designed to help our students make up their own minds, avoid undue manipulation and help them persuade others to come around to their points of view: skills that may well come in handy one day.

The Year 10 PreCAL Literacy class has been studying the film text ‘Gran Torino’ and learning how to express and justify their opinions about the themes in both written and spoken form. They have now moved on to the autobiography ‘Crashing into Potential’ all about dealing with adversity and the importance of teamwork and resilience: valuable skills for any student.

Term One has been an exciting one for The Lakes’ first year of VCAL and VCE studies. Our VCAL students have been engaging in VCAL Literacy, building on the skills their teachers have established over many years as they undertake assessment tasks and continue to prepare for their future pathways. Our VCE students have undertaken their first VCE SACs very successfully, having completed a Creative Writing, Language Analysis and Oral Presentation SAC this term. Well done to all our Year 11 students for the effort, maturity and respect they have shown towards each other, staff and the requirements of VCE.