English News

It is outstanding to see so many of our students achieving significant growth in the development of their reading and writing skills. Recent NAPLAN results demonstrate that our students are experiencing high growth in their reading and writing at a rate well above the state mean. In recent years, we have surveyed students about their attitudes to reading and writing to gain a better understanding of students’ needs.  At GEC, we believe that the best way to improve student outcomes is to develop students’ intrinsic motivation to read and write. It is essential that we ensure students have choice in what they read and what they write about.

In Years 7-9, students have the opportunity to read books that engage them in independent reading sessions. Teachers and librarians support students to select ‘just right’ books and at the end of their reading session, students write a journal entry about what they have read. Students are really engaged in these sessions and have significantly developed their capacity to read since the beginning of the year – many students have doubled their capacity and some have even tripled their capacity. This term, Year 9 students are reading together in literature circles, which introduces a social dimension to their reading. Students selected the book that they will read together in their groups and the arrival of their books was greeted with palpable excitement.

We have implemented a foundational program in Year 7 English to focus on the development of students’ writing skills called the Traits of Writing. Students carefully analyse examples of exemplary writing to inform their own work. Teachers have noticed this strategy also develops reading comprehension skills. In Year 8 English, students are participating in Writer’s Workshops, which focus on developing a process for writing and support the development of editing skills. In Year 9 English, students have focused on the features of different forms of writing and have significantly developed their ability to write engaging introductions and effective conclusions.

This year we have supported the teaching of literacy skills across the curriculum through a series of professional learning sessions in the Traits of Writing, reading and vocabulary development. It is wonderful to witness this focus on literacy in classrooms across the school. 

Justine Douglas

Head of English