ENGLISH
The English KLA would like to bid Lucy Badrock and Prue Bon a fond farewell. Ms Badrock is going to teach year 12 English Language at a Catholic school and Ms Bon is taking a year of leave to study.
Our senior students are busy doing orientation for VCE. We have been impressed with the energy they have brought to orientation and are excited for what the 2023 school year will bring. All year 11 and 12 students VCE English, English Language and Literature students will have holiday homework over the summer break and it is important that they complete it on time so that they don’t start the school year off already behind. We are excited to introduce some new texts at both year 11 and year 12 next year and it is important that they have all been read before the school year starts.
Our junior students have finished their final CATs for the year and are finishing up with mini units that will lead to more work that they will complete in 2023. Year 7 have just finished a film study unit and are currently working on an Indigenous language and storytelling unit. Year 8 have also just finished a film study unit and are currently working on some poetry. Year 8 have just finished a unit on Argument Analysis and are finishing the year on a film study.
We would also like to extend a huge congratulations to Giselle Leonard, in year 7, who won the People’s Choice Award for English at the Night of Excellence.
The year 7 students recently did a poetry unit and the following poems stood out as mature, compassionate and insightful.
Ukraine by Cassie Howland
5am wake up.
No time for yawning, get up.
French toast, let’s get going.
Bring the dogs with you.
Put in as much as you can.
You got everything?
Stock up on food first.
Air raid sirens everywhere.
Pick up Mum quickly.
Getting closer now.
Time for lunch, but keep driving.
We are almost there.
Finally arrived.
We are the few lucky ones.
By my home, Ukraine.
Rainbows by Chloe Jasper
Red like fire,
Yellow like the sun,
Fills you with warmth, the Summer has begun.
Pink is the flowers,
Green is the trees,
The garden smells beautiful as you inhale the breeze.
Purple like grapes,
Blue like the moon,
Orange is leaves when Autumn is soon.
There is a tradition that will never grow old,
At the end of a rainbow lies a big pot of gold.
Rainbows mean hope, sunshine after rain,
Happiness and joy that comes after pain.
Crossing the rainbow bridge, the animals that have passed,
Your souls and memories will forever last.
Rainbows are colours, seasons and moods,
Feelings and thoughts, memories and foods.
So take a look around you, the sky to the ground,
Look all around you, pay attention to sound.
We are so very lucky that rainbows can be found!
Waa (Crow) by Ainslie Naughtin
You are free, flying above it all.
Wilam this place is.
Where your brother Boorougang joins your side.
Where the Boggon scuttle and the gum leaves reach the clouds.
Wilam this place is.
Others call it home.
You cry to be heard, screeching your name.
“Waa”, you say, “Waa!” “Waa!”
You fly away.
Higher and higher.
Where the tall people reside and can no longer drive you away.
You cry to your brothers and sisters.
“Waa”, you say.
Wilam the air is.
Clean and crisp.
Heat meets your beak.
A flame you are forced to carry.
Hot and red.
Wilam this place is.
Others call it home.
Recommendations:
Movie – The Wonder directed by Sebastian Lelio – Starring Florence Pugh and based on the book by Emma Donoghue.
Books – Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton – The first and only behind-the-scenes Harry Potter memoir from one of the films’ biggest stars
TV Show – The Fosters – A family drama that follows the life of a blended family of biological, adopted and foster children.
Amy Broekmann
English Key Learning Head