A criteria sheet could be designed which would encourage students to work towards specific outcomes.
This issue is currently being reviewed by the Curriculum Committee.
Extension Program
As a faculty we are always looking for ways to extend our stronger students and as part of this English Literature Units 1 & 2 were offered to a group of Year 10 students. These students have successfully completed the course run by Calli Varoussiadis and will be attempting English Literature Units 3 & 4 in 1998.
Calli also ran a 'Theatre Club' where a group of students attended a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night outside of school hours. Another group went along to a screening of The Enqlish Patient, the purpose of which was to expose the students to an experience they may otherwise not get the chance to enjoy and to hopefully make what they are learning in class more personally relevant. Hopefully we can organise more of these English/Drama related activities next year as they were very successful.
TECHNOLOGY AND ENGLISH
We have continued our efforts this year to integrate the computer rooms into our program as much as possible, especially at the junior level. Students have been encouraged to produce at least one major computer-generated unit of work per term. We have also purchased and installed some new computer programs for the students this year. 'Creative Writer' (which helps students to create imaginative and well presented writing) and 'Super Spell' (which aims to help students improve their spelling through varied and fun activities) both appear to be quite useful, especially since being installed in G2 which has allowed them to be used by a greater number of students. As a result, students are able to have a lot of fun and improve their computer skills at the same time. I would also like to draw attention to the 'Wizard' program which is installed in the staffroom computers. It enables teachers to produce excellent 'Crossword' and 'Wordfind' puzzles very quickly. In English, we have found these puzzles to be a great way of testing vocabulary and knowledge of a specific topic or text.
NEW RESOURCES
We have purchased several new class sets aimed at Year 9 and 10 level, and topped up existing class sets as well as reviewing a number of teacher references. In conjunction with the SOSE Faculty, we have purchased a new TV/Video to replace the old one which caused many headaches throughout the year.
FACULTY EVENTS
This was the 7th annual publication of the BBB at the College. The BBB is a collection of student writing and any student can enter a piece in any style. In 1997, over 150 students contributed a piece of writing for the book. The publication has been made possible due to the success of a faculty submission to cover the huge cost of photocopying and binding and also the efforts of the team of English teachers that encourage students to draft and edit their work and act as proof-readers and judges. This year, it was wonderful to have the assistance of non- English faculty members who helped to proof-read the BB. The costs this year were kept down as a result of a generous donation of paper by Janet Pearson of Australian Paper. The BBB's success can be attributed to the fact that it provides students with an audience for their writing and also provides the thrill of seeing their work in print. All contributors receive a copy of the BBB, and it is also used as a reading resource in English classes and given as a gift to visitors. In addition, the winning stories at each level are displayed in our Banksia Secondary College Internet Home Page for all the world to read!!
Professional Development
Faculty members have attended the following Professional Development activities: Multiple Intelligence, Spotlight On Literature, Film As A Text-'What's Eating Gilbert Grape?', Bridging the Gap, Internet in the Classroom and Integrated Curriculum.
FUTURE EVENTS
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