English Yr 9-12 Term 3

Esselamu aleykum students,

parents and caregivers, I pray you are all well and are keeping safe during these unprecedented times. Despite these trying times, all my students have been working as hard as they possibly can and have been reaching out when they needed assistance. We have completed studying many interesting units this term and I look forward to teaching our students their final units for 2021 next term.

Year 9 English: Students have been involved in a drama study, Romeo and Juliet, where we have been reading the text online. Students have been independently working on analysing the text and constructed well-composed TEE tables and paragraphs. Students were asked to be creative with their assessment tasks and pretend to interview a character from Romeo and Juliet. Students were highly engaged with this task, as they recorded their interviews. I also had a great time viewing their entertaining pieces.

Year 10 English: This term, students were involved in a film study of 'The Hurricane' where we watched and analysed the film together online. Students were asked difficult questions about the concept of truth and how directors may utilise certain cinematic techniques to portray their version of the truth to position us, the audience. Similar to year 9 students, year 10 were also asked to complete a creative assessment task, where they not only had to interview the director of 'The Hurricane' but also to choose a related text, analyse it and interview a character within the text. Their aim was to discover certain choices made and how the audience are manipulated. They seemed very engaged and I too had a great time viewing and marking their assessment tasks.

Year 11 English Standard: This term, students were engaged in a close study of drama 'Away', composed by Michael Gow. We read the text together online and analysed the social, political and cultural context of the late 1960's Australia. Students seemed to enjoy the text and were asked to write an essay and reflection that highlights the significant themes within the play. Students appreciated the use of Shakespearean style within Away and understood that a simple text can have many meaningful layers.

Year 12 English Standard: I am proud to announce that we have come to the end of our year 12 journey, where this term students were heavily involved in revision and making sure to close any gaps they may have within their learning. Students have sat many mock trials and have also completed their final internal assessment, the trials. I pray our students succeed in the HSC and receive the marks they deserve.

Year 12 English Extension 2: I am very proud to announce that our students Gokce and Fahri have completed and submitted their Major Work and Reflection Statements. Throughout the year, both students have been working very hard to cope with the pressures of English Extension 2 and I could not have been more proud of them. I pray they do well in their other subjects and receive the marks they deserve and are capable of. I pray all of you have a safe and relaxing holiday and look forward to seeing you all next term. Esselamu Aleykum ...