It has certainly been a productive year in the English Learning Area and students are currently working on a range of different tasks in this final term of 2026. In Year 7, classes are writing an analytical essay on the film, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople before moving into persuasive speeches whilst Year 8s are preparing for presentations on The Book Thief. Year 9 students meanwhile are studying either Romeo and Juliet or Hive as well as getting ready for their upcoming exams in Week 7. Some work from Year 9 is included below. At Years 10 and 11, students are concluding their final units before preparing and revising for the English exams that commence in Week 6.
VCE English, Literature and English Language teachers are finalising their forthcoming VCE English Orientation programs which are designed to be an engaging introduction for students and give them a meaningful start for their VCE subjects. A major focus is to understand the world of the texts they will be studying, especially in English and Literature. In English, there will also be time devoted to exploring ideas relating to the Framework they will explore in 2027. In Year 11 this is writing about Adventure and in Year 12 it is writing about Personal Journeys. Students will also be encouraged to reflect on their own and others’ experiences and to use this to continue to develop their own unique voice when creating their responses.
This week all the VCE exams for English, Literature and English Language have been completed. We wish our graduating students all the very best for the rest of their exams and the future. We know that the critical thinking, reading and communication skills they have developed over the years in their English subjects will enhance their lives beyond school.
Thank you to families for supporting your daughters to read, view, engage, reflect, discuss, plan and write this year.
Examples of Year 9 work:
Purpose:
The following tasks allowed students to understand the universal themes present within Romeo and Juliet. Students created connections between the characters and their own lives through these transformative tasks.
Sample 1: Alice D 9B
For this task, students need to create a digital poster that could represent their interpretation of a modern day Romeo or Juliet.
Sample 2: Felicity B and Hannah S 9B
Students were required to create a pitch for their own film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. This task displays student creativity and their ability to transform a text.
Sample 3: Hannah S 9B
Students were required to capture a conversational tone by acting as an “Advice Expert” to provide advice to a character of their choice. This task encouraged them to consider the motivations of characters and question if the tragic ending of the play could have been avoided.
Email from Romeo:
“Hey Advice Expert,
I feel so hopeless, I feel so stuck. Banished…banished! I have been subjected to a fate worse than death. My precious sweet angel Juliet, oh how she must suffer because of me! Fate is so cruel. I don’t know what to do. Do I write to Juliet and get her to run away with me? Should I ask Friar Lawrence for help? I feel so stuck!”
Please help,
Romeo Montague”
Student response:
“Dear Romeo,
We know and understand that what you are feeling is normal for a young man your age, though it is a bit more dramatic. However, we believe that, in the nicest way possible, the problem is you. Please settle down and give everything a break. Just enjoy being a teenager and stop finding the meaning of life in love! Sorry for being blunt.
Kind regards,
Our Advice Team”