This term in Year 7 English we have been working on Life Writing and building our knowledge of sentence types, literary devices and PEEL paragraphs. We have been planning out our bibliography on someone that inspires us. We studied some life writing examples on some famous people, to grow our knowledge on how to understand different writing techniques. To challenge what we have learned, we were asked to write a bibliography on someone that inspires us using literacy devices such as symbolism, and rhetorical questions.

• Ruby, Year 7 student

In Year 8 English we have been doing visual studies and have recently started on themes and hidden messages inside stories.  Previously we have done symbolism, colour, and characterisation. This is all working towards being able to pull apart videos and stories to find key parts and then implement them into our own writing and videos. We have been able to find hidden messages and meanings in multiple short clips and hopefully soon be able to write our own soon.

• Simon, Year 8 student

This term Grade 9 has been focusing on persuasive speeches. Students would select a famous speech of their choice and proceed to do a in depth analysis by breaking down the structure and delivery of the text. During this process students have been able to decipher what components are required to create highly effective speeches. Currently we are beginning to write our own persuasive speech on a topic of interest, keeping in mind that there must be room for persuasion. Some examples of topics chosen by students being, magazines are setting unhealthy beauty standards for young people, horse racing should be prohibited, netball should be introduced to the Olympics, and that the process of harvesting palm oil is harmful to the environment. This will soon lead into the next unit for Grade 9’s which will focus on analysing films.

• Wynnonna, Year 9 student

Year 10’s started off the term by completing their life stories, a task in which students were asked to interview and write a story based on the life of a person of their choice. While the task seemed stressful to some, most students enjoyed what they did. Then moving on to doing a novel study, students chose between two books, The Messenger and Kevin the Plumber. Both books have been an interesting read so far, with tasks and activities to complete along the reading journey.

• Gracelyn, Year 10 student

Year 11/12 English students have been looking at how arguments are a vehicle in texts. We started the term analysing different types of texts and then writing a comparison. They have now started to write their own narratives where they need to have a clear moral or value present in their text. This will form part of a folio that they will continue to add to throughout the remainder of the term.

• Matilda Lutwyche, English Inquiry teacher