English

ELIZABETH VENZ Head of English

The Australian Curriculum: English identifies three strands for the study of English from Foundation to Year 10: the study of language, literature and literacy. The three strands seek to develop students’ understanding of the English language, the analysis and appreciation of texts and the grammatical knowledge needed to communicate effectively. The Junior English program at The Southport School seeks to contextualise these strands within a syllabus that responds to the needs of young male learners, while also responding to the broader strategic aims of the School. Therefore English has sought to continually refine the use of online and audio-visual technologies to situate learning within a contemporary context, while also embedding schoolside programs such as the Habits of Mind and Habits of Wellbeing within the syllabus. The embedding of these programs has helped to create an innovative and engaging program that has developed a passion for English in our students, while also providing a foundation from which they can excel in the Senior years. An emphasis on media and its role in reflecting and shaping contemporary society has been a major focus of the English programs in the Secondary School. Year 10 boys have been introduced to the documentaries and mockumentaries text types. They have questioned whether the documentary is an objective or subjective text type, asking if it is possible for film-makers to capture reality or to merely interpret it in a manner that is subjected to the filmmakers’ attitudes and values. This has led students into exploring the devices used by documentary film-makers to position audiences to accept certain interpretations of the world and world events. Year 11 students explored the role of media in contemporary culture, extending their understanding and appreciation of the role played by ideas, attitudes and values in underpinning texts and the ways that these shape and are shaped by language and visual choices that influence audiences. They evaluated representations in order to gain an appreciation of how readers/viewers are positioned to read meaning. Year 12 students, through exploration of representations in news reports, developed an understanding of relevant current affairs and how these are represented by those with differing points of view. They have explored the strategies used to position the reader to receive and accept the invited reading, and have extended their understanding of the power of gaps and silences in texts. In this unit, students focused on international issues.

In 2014, the English for ESL Program offered an alternate way for our nonEnglish-speaking background students to satisfy their English language requirements for tertiary education. By completing work that does not require familiarity with Australian culture, they are able to better demonstrate their English ability over a range of written and spoken tasks. The nature of the program also serves as a sound preparation for the types of assessment the students will face once they reach tertiary education. In the 2014 cohort, all students were able to achieve grades that allowed them to enter tertiary education after graduating from TSS. The English Communications students have produced some outstanding pieces of assessment this year and have been engaged in dynamic units such as, ‘Films in review’, ‘Careers and employment’ and ‘Panel interviews’. Students in Year 12 have been able to gain accreditation in first aid and barista courses and focus on future employment opportunities in and out of the classroom. Boys in Year 11 have prepared for their transition into Year 12 exploring similar genres and assessment instruments in this formative year.

ANGELA FOULDS-COOK

Head of Gifted and Talented

Preschool – Year 12

Gifted and Talented (G&T) at TSS is driven by formative and summative data taken from the whole community. The Gifted Education Department of myself, (Mrs Angela Foulds-Cook), Mrs Jasna Poeszus and Mrs Lyn Morris continuously determine the needs of parents, teachers and students and the changes that newly identified students bring to the program. Our core business is to strongly articulate with the National Curriculum and build upon the differentiation that occurs for our students in their main classrooms. To demonstrate the commitment to improve this, both Prep Honours teachers and the Prep G&T Coordinator applied for an Action Research grant through Independent Schools Queensland, to analyse and implement best practice in teaching highly able students writing. The research that would be done was linked to the whole school’s professional development in literacy. We were successful candidates and are now involved in the Teachers as Researchers Project and look forward to the Project’s outcome, that is, improved writing outcomes for our students.

The diverse representation of students in the Preparatory and Senior TSS community continues to drive the monitoring of support services and the coordinated flexible continuum of educational programs. Adjustments are made so that both advanced performance and gifted potential in students are nurtured and catered for. Considerable consultation with receiving teachers is undertaken at the end of every year to ensure the smooth transition processes between the year levels and between the campuses. In the Prep School students experienced a variety of teaching and learning opportunities throughout the year, from quantum physics and the art of creativity, to the use of thinking tools to broaden stereotypical perspectives about national and international issues such as asylum seekers and global warming. Students ventured to both the Somerset Literacy Festival and the Brisbane Writers’ Festival, attended Gateways workshops and applied their emotional intelligences through the ‘Above and Beyond’ projects. In the Senior School a wide and varied range of successful research-based interventions for helping develop the talent and emotional IQ of the Gifted were offered; in class differentiation, G&T clusters groupings and classes, extension and accelerated Maths and English classes, G&T conferences, participation in Days of Excellence, a Year 10 G&T Elective class, Junior and Senior G&T conference days, withdrawal extension and enrichment classes, social skills training and concurrent VET and university course enrolments.

Parents of gifted children, like all parents, have many wonderful events and achievements to celebrate. All were shared at parent workshops, which took place throughout the year on both the Prep and Senior School campuses. Parents were given the opportunity to engage with the content of guest speakers and also network and share ideas and strategies with other parents. At Prep the parent library is slowly growing, and students and parents are now eagerly borrowing the many resources in the G&T classroom.