Mark Lower, Curriculum Leader English, shares what our English Department have been working on in preparation for next year.

Term 2 has seen teachers in our English Department brainstorming and planning courses for next year. These new Year 11 courses will act as a meeting point between what students studied in our Junior courses and preparing for Level 2 NCEA in Year 12. 

In the English department, we have been driven by a number of essential questions, such as:

• “How can we ensure our students have the most possible agency over their own learning?”
• “How can we honour the aspirations and expectations of Te Tauihu iwi, with mātauranga Māori at the heart of all we do?”
• “What will excite and engage our students in their learning?”
• “How will we weave in our school’s Ākonga Learning Capabilities and our Values?”
• “How will we fulfill the expectation of the excellent newly revised New Zealand Curriculum?”
• “How can we ensure the learning is relevant, making as many connections with community and industry as possible?”

We planning six exciting new courses. Currently we are proposing:

• English/Psychology course that has the working title of ‘Making a Monster’. This course will explore the central question of “What are the causal factors that contribute to some members of society being thought of as ‘monsters’?” 
• Following on from the junior film-based courses, we will have ‘Lights, Camera, Action!” - a course that studies and makes films - everything from short fictional films to more targeted marketing films, helping students taking Business to pitch their ideas to prospective clients. 
• The search for identity is a big part of growing up, so we envisage running a course focused on this, focusing on both biographical and fictional texts that will explore this central concept. Name yet to be decided!
• Sustainability will come under the microscope with a course entitled ‘Leave Only Footprints’. 
• Social justice, and a deep dive into how our society is made of a rich variety of people and cultures will be considered in ‘Open My Eyes’. 
• Finally, with the media continuing to play such a central role in our world, the course ‘Navigating the Media Minefield’ will combine a close examination of today’s media landscape along with the production of high quality media content.

We are excited to be developing these courses, look forward to seeing what students will select and can’t wait to start teaching them.

Mark Lower, CL English