English Department news

YOUNG ASPIRING POET

Diocesan School for Girls was honoured to host the official launch of Spring Clean on Friday 6 September, a self-published book that comes from the heart and mind of one of our amazing Year 12 girls, Sabreen Islam.

“Spring Clean is a collection of poetry about self-love and growth”, says Sabreen. “It’s about the journey to finding the best version of yourself through the balance of holding on and letting go.”

Divided into winter and spring, Spring Clean begins with the bitterness of winter, and ends as it melts into the delicate flowers of spring, addressing themes of adolescence, bullying, abuse, self-love, mental health and healing. Sabreen was inspired by styles and writers of modern poetry such as Rupi Kaur (Milk and Honey), Atticus (Love Her Wild) and Faraway (Sad Birds Still Sing). This is Sabreen Islam’s debut collection of poetry – ‘for the dreamers and the hopeless and for those who cannot help but live by their hearts, even when they guide them wrong’.

This is not Sabreen’s first book. Despite only being 16 years old, she has written several books on online platforms, which have garnered hundreds and thousands of readers. Spring Clean however, is her first published book and has been available online and as an e-book since earlier this year. Spring Clean is illustrated by Year 12 Dio student Alice Waldow.

We are immensely proud and impressed by Sabreen’s creativity, grace and generosity of spirt in sharing her beautiful words and ideas with the world. I, for one, look forward to reading her future writing endeavours, which include an upcoming science-fiction novel. Paige Zinn, English Department

MENTOR TO STUDENT WRITERS

Leaving Dio in November, Isabel Michell has contributed to the journeys of many talented young writers at Dio.

Isabel came to Dio as a beginning teacher in 2012. This is a misnomer, however, as she already had extensive experience teaching in the tertiary sector after completing her PhD in New Zealand Literature in 2007. Isabel is widely accomplished, having been employed in many guises in her life – from short-order cook, to journalist, to mum at home. It is this richness of experience, combined with her academic rigour, that has made her an invaluable member of our School staff.

If education’s worth can be measured not in syllabi or exam results, Isabel is the kind of teacher that parents dream of, opening up the treasures of literature and art to a tech generation. In recent times Isabel has herself become a published author; next month appearing in the New Zealand journal Sport, with a story entitled Lame. Jane Hart, English Department

TOURNAMENT OF MINDS

On Saturday 31 August, we took 21 students to the Tournament of Minds Auckland Regional Competition at Mission Heights Junior College. There, the students competed in groups of seven against teams from all over the region in the Long-Term Challenge and Spontaneous Challenge.

Dio’s three teams competed in the Arts Category, where their challenge was to rewrite The Wizard of Oz for a New Zealand context, including recasting the characters, finding a replacement for the Yellow Brick Road, and composing two original songs. All this work had to be student-led, remain under a budget of $75, and fulfil extremely strict requirements in order to score highly.

Our teams performed extremely well and were commended for their creativity. Team 2, led by Casey Lam, placed third in the Junior Arts category, while Team 3, led by Bharathi Manakandan, placed second in the Senior Arts category.

Overall, the girls had an incredibly fun day, not only competing, but meeting like-minded peers and sharing in the joy of problem-solving and teamwork. We look forward to continuing the Tournament of Minds at Diocesan in the future, and applaud the pride and purpose shown by our students in the competition. Rachel Holland and Susy Carryer, Tournament of Minds Supervisors 2019.

Above, left to right: Amelia McIntosh, Casey Lam, McKenna Chan, Amelia Elsmore, Charlotte Feng and Joanna Chen.

Left, left to right: Kate Eggleston, Christine Baek, Chloe Holt, Amanda Yu, Laura Waters and Emma Sisam. Left to right: Bharathi Manakandan, Katie Parr, Sienna Kulatunga, Eno Li, Siobhan Murphy, Sara Shiraz and Stephanie Zhang.