English in the Spotlight

Year 7 English Examine Themes

Miss Lewis' Year 7 English class enjoyed a different way of practising their paragraph writing skills recently while studying the short play 'Honey Spot', by Indigenous playwright Jack Davis. This task of writing about the Indigenous play tied in nicely with Reconciliation Week.

Over a number of lessons, the class examined important themes from the play, such as teamwork and unity, along with investigating how writers can get their message across to an audience. Bringing their knowledge together, students then practised the PEEL paragraph structure - sometimes a tricky thing to master! Their skills were put on display as teams raced to be the first to construct a creative and cohesive paragraph while using the many spaces and surfaces around the classroom.

Jessica Lewis
English Teacher

World Environment Day – English Lesson Style

Last Friday, several of our English classes put into practice our ‘Appreciation of Beauty’ strengths and held creative lessons outside in our beautiful College grounds.

Year 9 students used their sensory imagery to write several short stories. In their first attempt, they were required to use visual imagery as a stimulus and write for twelve minutes. Sitting in the amphitheatre they could use anything they could see in their writing. Next, it was auditory imagery and the sounds of nature, the school itself and even the planes flying above as stimulus. Finally, the students were able to use one of the remaining senses to write their third piece.

Year 8 students have recently been studying different Shakespearean stories. The students filmed their own versions of different scenes from Romeo and Juliet – with some very creative interpretations in action!

A contemporary version…
Juliet: ‘Tybalt – some guy has been hitting on me!’

The 'Balcony' scene

“But soft! What light through yonder window

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Romeo?”
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon.”

Romeo ‘defeats’ Mercutio

Karyn Mooney
English Teacher