Middle School Subjects – English
The study of English is central to the learning and development of all young Australians. It helps create confident communicators, imaginative thinkers and informed citizens.
It is through the study of English that individuals learn to analyse, understand, communicate and build relationships with others and with the world around them. The study of English plays a key role in the development of reading and literacy skills which help young people develop the knowledge and skills needed for education, training and the workplace. It helps them become ethical, thoughtful, informed and active members of society.
Middle School students will continue to develop their proficiency to read, view, speak, write, listen to, create and reflect on increasingly complex and sophisticated spoken, written and multimodal texts across a growing range of contexts with accuracy, fluency and purpose (Australian Curriculum, 2018).
Students consolidate their knowledge and understanding of literacy, literature and language through various learning tasks and assessment types. These include:
- Narrative Writing
- Persuasive Writing
- Essay Writing
- Poetry
- Short films
- Newspaper articles
- Reports
English at Emmaus Christian College
Year 7
Potential Class Texts:
- Wonder
- Rat Catcher’s Daughter
- Trash
- Boy
- Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Matilda
- The Rabbits
- Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
Year 8
Potential Class Texts:
- The Giver
- Cinder
- Parvana's Journey
- Private Peaceful
- A Monster Calls
- Tales from Outer Suburbia
- Much Ado about Nothing (Shakespeare)
Year 9
Potential Class Texts:
- Animal Farm
- Boy in Striped Pyjamas
- Fahrenheit 451
- Ender’s Game
- Goodnight Mr Tom
- The Invisible Hero
- The Happiest Refugee
- Bridge to Wiseman's Cove
- The London Eye Mystery
- Finding Grace
- Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)
Extension Classes
The College offers an extension English class for each year in Middle School.
Extension classes cover all concepts of the Australian Curriculum as well as stretching students beyond the requirements of the Australian Curriculum for those who have demonstrated the capacity. English extension classes have a rich literature focus, reading an increased amount of class texts with high literary value.
To select students for the extension class, current English grades, exam results and the PAT (Progressive Achievement Test) results are considered with teacher observation. The PAT test assesses students’ skills in reading comprehension and inference.
There are opportunities for students to change in and out of the extension class during the year.