Message from the Head of Teaching and Learning

It ain't what we do, it’s the way that we do it!

TREEnglish – making it real!

I love English! It was always my favourite subject at school and I always knew that I would be an English teacher. If I am honest, my passion to teach, sprung from my passion to share a love of books and inspire this love in others. I wanted to be an English teacher. The emphasis was on the subject rather than the teaching. I now recognise my role as a teacher is not just about teaching books and how to write; it is actually much more about teaching my students how to learn.

In a 21st Century World where assessment data threatens to become more important than the learning experience itself, it is our responsibility to transform our classrooms into learning utopias where risk taking, experimentation and creativity become second nature. English may be compulsory but some students will never love poetry or Shakespeare – no matter how hard I seek to convince them of my way of thinking! Dragging horses to water and watching them stubbornly dehydrate is not my idea of fun but it is amazing how much better that water tastes when it has been sweetened with silly stories; good humour and most importantly authenticity. Most students do not need to be dragged if you’re asking them about their lives and experiences; their opinions on issues that personally affect them. Who are they – beyond a ‘student’? What matters to them? What makes them ‘tick’? What angers or frustrates them.

This term in Year 9 English, we have been engaged in TREEnglish – a nifty little blend of TREE (The Regional Engagement Enterprise) and English. Students were asked to choose from a number of topics, about which they would independently research and present to an audience of teachers, parents and peers, in the form of either a Documentary; a TED Talk or a mini magazine. The topics included: Regional Wellbeing; Viticulture; Paddock to Plate; Agricultural Innovation and Orange 360. A common thread, which ran through the topics was ‘sustainability’. The challenges were significant.

The students were researching; investigating and studying something independently – they were not being taught about these issues. The teacher was simply the facilitator – someone to guide them and discuss ideas with them.
The students were now the experts – they were the teachers – telling us all about what they had discovered and learned.
The students had to think very carefully about their audience and their purpose. Who were they writing for? Who was their target audience? How would they ensure that they really engaged and informed their target audience who was no longer simply, ‘the teacher?’ Poor spelling and grammar or inappropriate colloquial expressions did not simply mean a lower mark – it meant that an important message might not be taken seriously – that they might not be taken seriously. Suddenly effective communication took on a whole new significance.
Many students were writing about things very close to their hearts – For example, the drought and its impact on their families; their communities.
Many students wrote and conducted interviews with family members or experts in the field.

TREEnglish has really demonstrated to the students that English matters – it matters very personally to them. To have control over their English gives them a voice; gives them choices and helps them to discover more about themselves, others, and the world around them.

Don’t just take my word for it though –

here is what some of them had to say:

Lucy Dedman:

I have really enjoyed TREE learning this term- I find the topic of Wellbeing interesting; how it affects the people around me differently, especially in times like the drought. Coming from a farming background made it an easier and more meaningful task to complete and really taught me to appreciate everything. Also making a documentary has been a really cool experience.

Chelsea Edwards:

I'm really enjoying the Regional Wellbeing topic because it's helping me find out more about my aboriginal heritage and community. Making a magazine is helping me to learn more about how to engage and inform readers through different writing styles.

Abi Tyrwhitt:

I have been loving the TREEnglish topic this term. Getting to research and prepare a talk on something that I’m really interested in, has definitely made the learning process more enjoyable. Also, being from rural, western NSW, where most conversations are about agriculture, I find it nice that English has taken a new aspect- that being farming.

Hannah Leisk:

I’ve really enjoyed this topic over the past few weeks because I’ve been able to do something I want to do and something that actually affects me directly. I chose regional wellbeing and am focusing on the drought which is playing a huge role in my family’s wellbeing at the moment.

Fletcher Bolte:

I’m really enjoying this unit because it’s really helped me open my eyes about problems that my family experiences personally; it’s really important for me to understand this struggle. That’s a big reason why I am enjoying doing this topic in English. It has been very beneficial for me.

Jemma Luelf:

I have enjoyed doing this project; researching an illness that strikes so many people, especially in the drought, and for farmers where help isn’t as easy to get to. Also I have learnt so much about why the stigma of poor mental wellbeing impacts on so much in our lives.

Abby Crouch:

Doing the TREE program this year has made English so enjoyable. It branches our knowledge of regional sustainability and hits close to home for many of the boarders coming from rural areas. The TREE program has so many areas to choose from and I haven’t heard a bad word about any of them. I hope that we can continue in this program next year and that future classes appreciate it as much as we do.

Max Bylsma:

I’m really enjoying TREEnglish – it is a really good way of learning about the region around us. I am doing ‘Paddock to Plate’ as my topic – it is really interesting because it gives us an idea about how fresh products are and how important that is!

Lizzie Kwa:

The TREE English has been really interesting and I have enjoyed researching and learning about my topic. As it was locally based it was great to better understand our community and to produce either a magazine, documentary or TED talk based on our chosen area of interest.

Mrs Serena Lewis

Head of Teaching and Learning