ENGLISH

Year 8 

Year 8 English students have just completed a unit on Microfiction where they experimented with telling stories in as few words as possible. The students found that punctuation becomes incredibly important when trying to create a big impact with only a few words and that every word must be chosen carefully. 

Here are some examples of the great work that was submitted: 

Goodbye by Tahlia Brown 

He grabbed his army hat. She wailed watching him leave. 

Half Full, Half Empty by Bethany Seymour 

I stare at the glass. Half full. Half empty. It’s funny, isn’t it? How it can be both. How just like this glass, life can be both. A happy moment of laughter and smiles, a safe space for your head. Or a grey day, where nothing’s going right, and every bad thought drags you down. The middle of the glass, where the water stops, where the balance is met. Where the empty meets the full. Where the good greets the bad. A perfect line where they shake hands. A still sliver that separates them. This clear liquid. A feeling. A thought. A glass of water. It catches the light like a joyful smile and casts a shadow like a lingering bad memory. 

Oh, how funny it is that the water’s so clear and life is far from it. How it’s so much more colourful. How it’s packed full of emotion and experience. How it’s tears falling down, and laughs being shared. Life is confusing. Water is simple. But water reflects. Maybe that’s why it’s related to life so much. The water’s clear but it echoes back a much blurrier picture. Maybe even a scarier thing. But life isn’t clear. Sad. Happy. Half empty. Half full. 

Missing by Giselle Leonard 

The night was cloudy. Mist hung low over the landscape. The trees creaked and groaned, an eerie song. The window was open, and the bed was empty. 

Year 10 English 

Our Year 10 English students have just completed their first unit which was a film study of Pleasantville directed by Gary Ross. Within this unit students have learnt to analyse the characters, themes and views and values of the director together with the carious film techniques and elements of symbolism present within the film. In preparation for their CAT which was an analytical text response essay, students undertook some timed writing activities, they engaged in an essay structure organising challenge and they practiced brainstorming different essay prompts. Well done to all of our Year 10s! 

Year 10 Literature 

In Year 10 Literature, students have begun work on the classic play ‘Antigone’ by Sophocles. As an introduction to the text, students examined the ‘crime scene’ and made inferences and deductions about the plot, characters and themes. The lesson was a huge hit and, as expected, students left with more questions than answers … a great way to begin a unit. 

Amy Broekmann

ENGLISH KEY LEARNING HEAD