Programme Description : The world of sport provides a rich context for learning about how language and society works. This course will use the sporting world as a context for developing student skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and presenting. Students will consider the role sports has in our lives, and as part of our identity. Students will begin to understand that the values developed on the sports field can help us in our everyday lives. Students will show their information literacy skills through an investigation of a sporting role model or an issue in the sporting world. We will also look at how the ideas around sport are communicated visually in both static and moving forms. Students will also have an opportunity to produce a visual text.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Recognises, understands, and considers the connections between oral, written, and visual language
• Integrates sources of information and prior knowledge purposefully and confidently to make sense of increasingly varied and complex texts
• Selects and uses appropriate processing and comprehension skills with confidence
• Monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress, articulating learning with confidence
• Understands that authors and directors have different voices and styles and identifies and can explain these differences.

Creating Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Uses a wide range of oral, written and visual language features with control to create meaning and effect and to sustain interest.
• Organises and develops ideas and information for a particular purpose or effect, using the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students taking PE, Outdoor Education, Health or any student with an interest in sport.

Possibly leads to : Thinking and literacy skills developed will enable you to unlock learning in all curriculum areas.

Assessment Opportunities: A combination of written, oral and visual internal assessments plus a choice of 2 external assessments.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : Understanding our place in the world and where we belong is an important part of growing up. Texts are a powerful tool in developing this understanding. In this course we will look at different voices within society and consider how societal issues impact us and inform our thinking. This will allow us to develop our own unique voice and convey our thinking effectively. Through understanding the ideas in a variety of texts, students will be able to understand connections between text, society and themselves. A focus on reading, writing and viewing film will support our students developing sense of the world they live in.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Recognises, understands, and considers the connections between oral, written, and visual language
• Integrates sources of information and prior knowledge purposefully and confidently to make sense of increasingly varied and complex texts
• Selects and uses appropriate processing and comprehension skills with confidence
• Monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress, articulating learning with confidence
• Understands that authors and directors have different voices and styles and identifies and can explain these differences.

Creating Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Uses a wide range of oral, written and visual language features with control to create meaning and effect and to sustain interest.
• Organises and develops ideas and information for a particular purpose or effect, using the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course would suit students taking Social Studies, History and Geography, or any student with a general interest in their own society and other societies around the world. It will also suit students taking both the Visual and Performing Arts, and Business Studies.

Possibly leads to : Thinking and literacy skills developed will enable you to unlock learning in all curriculum areas.

Assessment Opportunities: A combination of written, oral and visual internal assessments plus a choice of 2 external assessments.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : This is a foundation course for students who need support to develop their literacy skills to cope with the challenges of NCEA. Through a context of conflict, students will learn to both interpret and participate in the world around them. The focus will be on building skills and confidence in reading, listening and viewing, and communicating ideas in oral, written and visual forms.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Recognises, understands, and considers the connections between oral, written, and visual language
• Integrates sources of information and prior knowledge purposefully and confidently to make sense of increasingly varied and complex texts
• Selects and uses appropriate processing and comprehension skills with confidence
• Monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress, articulating learning with confidence
• Understands that authors and directors have different voices and styles and identifies and can explain these differences.

Creating Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Uses a wide range of oral, written and visual language features with control to create meaning and effect and to sustain interest.
• Organises and develops ideas and information for a particular purpose or effect, using the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students who wish to be successful in NCEA but may lack the confidence to do so. The focus is on slowing the learning down so that students confidence is developed. This will allow our students to progress into the higher levels of English and to have the necessary literacy skills to unlock their learning in all curriculum areas.

Possibly leads to : Both higher academic learning and the necessary literacy skills to cope with the demands of Apprenticeship or Gateway literacy components.

Assessment Opportunities: Assessments will be offered according to the learning needs of the students. These will come from a variety of written, visual and oral internal assessments with the opportunity to achieve in a choice of 1 external.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : Fantasy and alternative texts provide rich material for learning about the world around us and how meaning is created through language and stories. Understanding these texts will also enable us to see how literature through myths and legends were used to make sense of the world and provide certainty in challenging times. This course will use the world of fantasy as a context for developing student skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing and presenting. Students will look closely at the language and narrative structures of selected alternative and fantasy texts and use them as a context for their own writing. Students will be challenged to think about the view of humanity presented by these texts. Through integrating English with Media Studies, we will also look at the visual communication of ideas in narrative texts and provide opportunities for students to produce their own visual texts.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Thinks critically about texts with understanding and confidence
• Shows a discriminating understanding of how texts are shaped for different purposes and audiences
• Makes meaning by understanding increasingly sophisticated ideas
• Understands and analyses how text conventions work together to create meaning and effect
• Identifies and understands the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms and appreciates how they contribute to and affect text meaning.

Create Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Uses an increasing vocabulary to communicate precise meaning
• Ideas will show depth of thought and awareness of a range of viewpoints
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students that enjoy fantasy, creating their own writing and thinking alternatively about the world around them. It will also suit students who enjoy the Visual Arts.

Possibly leads to : Critical thinking and literacy skills developed will enable you to unlock learning in all curriculum areas.

Assessment Opportunities: A combination of written, oral and visual internal assessments plus a choice of 2 external assessments.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : Much of literature throughout history has taught us valuable lessons about people and their place in the world. Through literature we gain insight into how social and political climates influence a person’s reality and their reaction to it. Through understanding these enduring ideas that we develop our own sense of self and our own unique voice. Students will look closely at various pieces of written and visual literature throughout time that are still relevant in the ideas they convey today. This will enable students to make connections between these texts and to consider how these texts inform their own developing opinions. They will also learn to develop their own voice and convey this through both written and oral texts.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Thinks critically about texts with understanding and confidence
• Shows a discriminating understanding of how texts are shaped for different purposes and audiences
• Makes meaning by understanding increasingly sophisticated ideas
• Understands and analyses how text conventions work together to create meaning and effect
• Identifies and understands the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms and appreciates how they contribute to and affect text meaning.

Create Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Uses an increasing vocabulary to communicate precise meaning
• Ideas will show depth of thought and awareness of a range of viewpoints
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students who love to read. It will also suit students who are interested in History and Drama.

Possibly leads to : Critical thinking and literacy skills developed will enable you to unlock learning in all curriculum areas.

Assessment Opportunities: A combination of written, oral and visual internal assessments plus a choice of 2 external assessments.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : This course is for students who wish to continue to develop their functional communication skills, especially in reading and writing, as they continue to make sense of the world around them. Through the lens of documentary students will explore contemporary issues in order to enhance their literacy skills. This class offers a space for students to develop these literacy skills and continue to grow their confidence in articulating ideas in a written format. This class will be limited to 15 students so entry will be based on the needs of the student.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Thinks critically about texts with understanding and confidence
• Shows a discriminating understanding of how texts are shaped for different purposes and audiences
• Makes meaning by understanding increasingly sophisticated ideas
• Understands and analyses how text conventions work together to create meaning and effect
• Identifies and understands the characteristics and conventions of a range of text forms and appreciates how they contribute to and affect text meaning.

Create Meaning -

• Constructs a range of texts that demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of purpose and audience through deliberate choice of content, language and text form
• Conveys and sustains a personal voice where appropriate
• Uses an increasing vocabulary to communicate precise meaning
• Ideas will show depth of thought and awareness of a range of viewpoints
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students who wish to be successful in the higher levels of NCEA but may lack the confidence to do so. The focus is on slowing the learning down so that students confidence is developed. This will enable students to have the necessary literacy skills to be successful in all curriculum areas.

Possibly leads to : NCEA success with sound literacy skills, Apprenticeship and Gateway opportunities, necessary literacy component for tertiary study.

Assessment Opportunities: Assessments will be offered according to the learning needs of the students. These will be based around both the reading and writing strands of the UE qualification. An external assessment may form part of this.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz

Programme Description : Literary texts show us the power of language and offer us insights into the world we live in. This literature based course offers students the opportunity to develop their skills in critical reflection about how written, oral, and visual texts work to offer us insights. It will also enable them to use this critical reflection in articulating their own voice, both through written and oral text. Students will access this by looking at texts from both a New Zealand context and texts set in other times and places. Of particular interest will be considering our bias’, how these are constructed and whether texts challenge these. The course is designed to set students up with the written language and presentation skills that will support their tertiary learning, as well as supporting their growth as citizens of this country and the world. Students will have the opportunity to combine Te Reo Maori with their English learning to create a body of work towards assessment.

Skills and Capabilities:

Making Meaning -

• Selects and reads texts for enjoyment and personal fulfilment
• Integrates source of information, processes, and strategies purposefully, confidently, and precisely to identify, form, and express increasingly sophisticated ideas
• Understands, analyses, and evaluates how text conventions work together to create meaning and effect
• Understands that authors have different voices and styles and appreciates these differences
• Identifies particular points of view within texts and understand that text can position a reader
• Monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress, articulating learning with confidence.

Creating Meaning -

• Develops, communicates and sustains sophisticated ideas, information and understandings
• Creates coherent, planned whole texts by adding details to ideas or making links to other ideas and details
• Ideas show perception, depth of thought, and awareness of a range of viewpoints
• Uses a wide range of oral, written and visual language features coherently, cluently and with control to create meaning and command attention
• Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity, meaning and effect
• Is reflective about the production of own texts; monitors and self-evaluates progress

Cross Curriculum Links: This course will suit students who have enjoyed previous years of English. It will also suit students who enjoy History and both the Visual and Performing Arts. This context also aligns strongly with students wanting to understand the connection between literature and Te Reo Maori.

Possibly leads to : This is a full Level 3 course designed for students intending to go on to tertiary study. However, it will also appeal to students who want to develop their understanding of their own place in the world, or who want to challenge their preconceived ideas of where they belong and the values they hold.

Assessment Opportunities: A combination of written, oral and visual internal assessments plus a choice of 2 external assessments.

Contact: Sarah Holmes (HOF English) Email: holmess@mbas.ac.nz