It has been a busy start to the year in the English Department. As we watch the new build make exciting progress, we eagerly anticipate moving into our new home. In the classroom, the students are off to an excellent start and most students have settled into their new year group with a positive mindset. Congratulations to all Year 7 and 9 students who have recently completed their NAPLAN tests. It is a huge undertaking for our school community and most students conducted themselves with maturity and tried their best in every test.

Year 9 English students Charlotte Warbuton, Joseph Palmer and Jodie Mikosza attended the Fremantle Literature Centre on Tuesday 25th March to attend a workshop with published YA author Meg Caddy. The ‘Young Writers’ program offers workshops for aspiring creative writers four times a year. Writers and illustrators present inspiring and informative workshops around: world-building, fantasy, crime fiction, historical fiction, classic mystery, graphic novels, science fiction… the list goes on! Three students from Kalamunda High attended this time around and were treated to a fun-filled day of practical activities and wise advice from this inspiring and prolific recent Creative Writing PhD graduate (Curtin University). We look forward to the next round of workshops in Term 2. Thanks to Ms Stokes for organising this special occasion for our aspiring writers and Dr Aslett for supervising the students.

Back at school, in the classroom, our teachers have been working hard to create engaging lessons for our students. In Year 7, the newest members of our school community have been writing fantasy fiction and learning about persuasive devices in politics. Our Year 8s have been learning about superheroes and are now writing stories about people they regard as heroes in their own lives. The Year 9 students have been doing a genre study on Science Fiction. They have been reading and viewing Science Fiction texts and now they have a chance to write their own short stories. The Year 10s have studied Of Mice and Men and are now doing a research project on representation. In upper school, the Year 11 ATAR studies have been enjoying a film study of Barbie. The 11 General students have been learning about iconic characters and crime fiction, and the foundation students have been writing letters to people they admire. The Year 12 ATAR students have been studying the 2014 play Black Diggers and the 12 General students have been investigating the future of work and analysing news articles. In Literature, the Year 12 students have been studying the novel White Tiger and the Year 11 students have been studying Jasper Jones.

Nicolee McNally

HOLA - English