The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Our students study a variety of text types, from novels, play scripts, poetry, film, advertising, short stories and everyday texts. They have the opportunity to explore the different ways to inform, entertain and engage an audience using a variety of literary devices and stylistic features.

A student who enjoys English may choose to take up a variety of opportunities outside of regular lessons, such as the Campus Book Cup, attending the Meet the Writer's Festival, and to enter their writing in annual competitions.

Students who enjoy English and have achieved strong academic results in Year 9 English may wish to consider the English Accelerated Semester 2 course, which will allow students to study English as a Stage 1 subject in the second semester of Year 10, in order to achieve 10 SACE credits. A number of pathways are open to students who wish to study English in Year 11 and 12, in either English, Essential English, or English Literary Studies.

The Learning Team structure in the Middle School provides opportunities for students to participate in integrated units of work, across a range of disciplines. Gleeson College also recognises the importance of Independent Reading, which is an indicator of student success. This is why all students in Years 7 to 9 also participate in one lesson a week dedicated to reading and literacy.

The goal of our enthusiastic and passionate English Staff is to help our students come to understand how words can shape the world and the ways that literature can provide a window into different times, different cultures and different human experiences. We achieve this by providing authentic tasks in which students can discuss, process and synthesise information, while practicing communication skills and a range of critical, written, oral and multimodal literacies.

For more information, please contact Literacy Learning Leader, Jessica McCarthy, via email at jessica.mccarthy@gleeson.catholic.edu.au and check out our YouTube video here:

Year 11 & Year 12 English: https://youtu.be/7yusMJNyaW4