Secondary English Yr 9-10-11 12 Advanced and 12 Extension 1 T1 2022

Year 9

students completed their unit exploring ‘What makes a literary text a classic?’. Students studied two literary texts considered great classics: J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings—The Fellowship of the Ring and Frank Herbert’s Dune. After reading the texts and exploring their respective fantasy and sci-fi genres, students applied the theory of the ‘Hero’s Journey’ to composing their own story on Minecraft in addition to exploring to idea of literary classic in a discursive piece.

Year 10

students completed their unit exploring ‘How authors aim to change the world?’ Students studied two texts considering injustice in the world: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Norman Jewison’s Hurricane. Students were then tasked with completing a Project Based Learning assessment task in collaboration with science involving two parts. Part 1 required students to deliver a persuasive courtroom speech using DNA evidence. Part 2 required students to compose a Crime Scene Investigation film, with the end result a collection of engaging student-composed videos.

Year 11

Advanced English students began the year with their study of the Common Module—Reading to Write. Students studied a wide variety of texts including George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, alongside multiple other texts to help influence the style and writing approach of students. Students composed a discursive writing piece alongside a reflection  for their assessment task.

Year 12 Advanced

continued their study of Module A – Textual Conversations. The beginning of the term saw them consolidate their understanding of the Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘Hag-seed’. Students then proceeded with their study of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, with a focus also on context and the way both texts resonate with each other whilst also having dissonances. Students recently attended theatrical production and symposium of the Tempest at the Seymour Theatre.

Year 12 Extension 1 English

commenced their study of the ‘Worlds of Upheaval’ elective, kicking off with their study of Mary Shelly’s novel ‘Frankenstein’. Students explored the Romantic and Victorian impulses within the novel whilst also researching an appropriate related text of their own choosing to complement their study of this idea of ‘upheaval’ by transposing their contextual focus from one text to another. The end of the Term 1 saw a transition to the second prescribed texts for students, being Samuel Beckett’s short play ‘Waiting for Godot’. Students grappled with Modernist ideas of Absurdism in the text, but ultimately where gained a broader contextual awareness of upheaval as a result.

Debating

The Year 11 debating won their first round debate against AIA Strathfield in the Islamic Schools Debating Competition. Congratulations