Emma Bennis

Spotlight on Year 8 writing
Students in English classes across years 7-10 spend the first 30 minutes of each 100 minute learning session engaging in explicit literacy instruction. This routine includes a grammar “skill drill”, a “quick write” and is followed by reading for meaning. These activities are directly connected to the content of our lessons, helping students build vital literacy skills for success in their English work.

We’ve been really impressed with students’ engagement in this work and are pleased to capture below a couple of excellent student samples. These are from Year 8, who are reading true stories of courage and learning about what it means to be courageous in a variety of situations. In these samples, students were practising using a variety of punctuation to develop tension in their writing. Well done, Alana N and Sam G!

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Mia stood still, thinking. She was terrified, a cold shiver ran down her spine. Her brother was ready, energised and brave and Mia was nervous and scared. In a heartbeat her brother jumped and she could hear his voice echoing as he descended, “Weeeeee!”

Mis took three steps back and started panting heavily. She didn’t know what to do. She was alone on the top of a 20 metre cliff! Would she jump?

Alana N

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“Ready for what?” I said.

“Ready for the cliff jumping activity we’re doing?”

“WHAT!” I shouted so loud that it echoed into the massive valley. My brother grabbed my hand immediately without letting me have a second thought. The cliff diving place was only 50 metres from where we were standing, so clearly my brother had thought this out.

Before I knew it we were there and already suited up.

“How long is the fall?” I asked the supervisor.

“140 metres high or about 5.4 seconds before you hit the ground.”

My face turned white.

Sam G

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Homework in English – Years 7-10

Completion of homework in English is a great opportunity for students to consolidate their learning, deepen their understanding and creates a great foundation for study routines in the senior years of schooling.

In Years 7-10, students in English are expected to:

• Complete three homework tasks across a term as set by their classroom teacher. Full details of these are available in the students’ class Teams page.
• Spend some time completing any unfinished classwork, or making their own summaries of the material covered each lesson.
• Read for 30 minutes at least four nights a week. This could be any reading material of their choice. There are lots of fabulous books available in our school library and through our online borrowing platform, Sora.
• As they approach an assessment task at the end of term, spend time preparing for this; ideas and approaches for this will be shared by classroom teachers.

Parents can support their children in doing this by:

• Helping to create a calendar of when different tasks are due to help students stay on track.
• Creating a quiet, tech-free space at home to complete work.
• Raed with your child, or spend time discussing what they have read.

Please reach out to your child’s English teacher if you have any questions about classwork or homework.