ENGLISH

2018 has been a year of change at STC and the English Learning Area is no exception. Staffing has remained stable with the only newcomer welcomed being Mr Dan O’Brien who took on a Year 10 class and joined the initial Year 9 Connected Humanities team. It has been great to have his input and fresh perspectives.

Year 9 has seen the greatest changes with the introduction of the Connected and Selected programmes. The Humanities course included aspects of English, Social Sciences and Religious Education based on a different theme each term – Identity, Influencers, Conflict and Innovation. There is no doubt that there have been many challenges for the team of four teachers as the disparate requirements of each learning area have to be covered in only 300 minutes a week – a considerable reduction on the time available in previous years. We have all learned a lot during the year and we look forward to 2019 with a clearer vision on how to approach the task with a closer overview by the three Leaders of Learning and the addition of Mr Hamish Barclay to the team as we farewell and wish Mrs Bernie Lee well as she departs for a year’s study leave in 2019.

The Selected course offered by the English team is Mrs Margaret Guerin’s course Heroes. The boys who chose this semester course have investigated the significance of hero-figures throughout history right up to the current popularity of Marvel vs DC movies. This proved to be a thoroughly engaging course for the boys as they discovered more about heroes from ancient mythologies through to the present day. They also created and presented their own versions of Hero characters and stories.

Work has continues in the senior classes to assist and encourage boys to take responsibility for their choice of NCEA standards and to meet deadlines. We await with interest the outcome of the recently completed NCEA review to see the direction that Level One will take in 2020. The announcement of an increased number of digital examinations on offer in 2019 will lead to some discussion – especially after the problems experienced by some students in the 2018 examination.