Welcome to the start of another year in the English Department. 

After Year 7/8 Camp, we will be kicking off the New Year by launching the EOHS Reading Challenge again. This will involve students reading for pleasure and recording the books they read on their Reading Logs. Depending on the number of books they read, they will receive certificates which will be given out in assembly. Every book read will also contribute to House totals, with the winning house receiving 40 House points! 

Launched by the Ministry of Education last year, we had our first round of results in the new Literacy exams. Of the students who were entered, 84% passed the Reading and Writing standards, which is fantastic. That said, we only entered students who we thought were ready - as per Ministry guidelines - but we will have to start entering ALL of the Year 10s this year to give us a realistic baseline of where they are starting from and what needs to be done to prepare them for NCEA. 

A consequence of many students passing the standards last year - we were one of the very few schools to offer it to Year 9 students - we will be offering extension classes to those Year 10s who have literacy while the other students work on core skills to prepare for it. For those Year 11s who achieved it in Year 10 last year, we will be offering Level Two Standards. 

Some parents have asked me about homework and how parents can help. In addition to any homework set by teachers, getting students to set aside 20 minutes each day to read and/or work on Writer’s Toolbox would be really beneficial to learning, and we would welcome your support in this area. Modelling quiet reading would also be extremely useful, so dust down that library card and see what’s out there. 

Happy reading!